Worth Fighting For
by SurferSquid
Summary: After the Battle of Sakhmet, betrayal leaves Commander Hyren, of Dr. Sloth's planetary invasion forces, stranded on Neopia. Then Hyren runs into a teenage human and her pet Zafara, and the three have an adventure that will change their lives forever. Published in the Neopian Times, issues 627-638.
1. Chapter 1

_Many thanks goes to breakingchains for her very helpful critique and feedback. Without her, this story wouldn't be what it is._

Dark_breed_Hyren woke up to voices outside his door.

"Hey, Blynn, isn't tomorrow Grundo Independence Day?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah! It is! How about that!"

The diminutive blue Grundo rolled over in his bed to stare out the window of his room in his strange little family's Altadorian villa by the sea. Kreludor was almost full and high in the sky, casting its silver light across softly undulating hills and towering cypress trees. They'd moved here some years ago, from Mystery Island. His owner had been ecstatic over the discovery of Altador. Hyren had been more excited to live in a place where it didn't rain several times daily.

"What do you think Hyren wants to do tomorrow?" ArPharazonTheGolden asked from out in the hall. "Perhaps we ought to throw him a surprise party!" The Faerie Draik's tone was hushed but eager—he obviously thought Hyren was asleep.

"Ooh! Awesome idea!" Blynn679 replied. The Disco Zafara, on the other hand, had a distinct lack of volume control.

No parties, Hyren thought in annoyance, grimacing and squeezing his pillow over his antennae. He wanted tomorrow to just be another routine day of catching the ship back to Mystery Island for training with the Techo Master. After all, someone had to fight in wars and it might as well be him. It was just a shame he'd outgrown the Swashbuckling Academy. That had been the only shred of significance his own species day ever held for him.

Blynn's voice gradually faded as she moved down the hall and began belting out a rather off-key rendition of _The Ballad of Rosie the Grarrl_. "Ohhh, when the Kau Slips are in _blooooom_ , and the Peadackles _crooooon_ …"

Hyren winced.

"Now would be the perfect opportunity to do some research on traditional Kreludan cuisine!" Pharazon said, blithely ignoring her. "Not to mention the cultural origins of Royal Grundo attire… I wonder if the library is still open this late… Oh, this will be the greatest Grundo Independence Day Hyren's ever known!"

Hyren let out a dry chuckle, flopping onto his back and closing his eyes, the memories flooding his mind. Pharazon had no idea of the irony of that statement, because Hyren's day of independence had come much later.

* * *

"Fifty seconds to deployment," a tinny, robotic voice fizzed over the comm.

"Roger," Commander Hyren said, clamping one large Mutant Grundo hand over his helmet. He checked the straps on his armour one last time, shifting heavily on one of the carrier ship's cold metal benches. The diagnostic heads-up display on his helmet's visor confirmed that everything checked out.

Sloth was returning to Neopia, and this time, he and his army would not fail.

It was an honor for the commander to have been chosen to lead the space contingent of his overlord's elite invasion troops into battle at Sakhmet, especially considering Hyren's species. Gormos was jealous, of course, and Garoo was not much happier even though he had the prestige of being the first to the planet with Sloth's ground forces.

But Hyren had taken over a thousand worlds under Sloth's banner since that fateful day on Doran when the Grundo had willingly pledged himself to the doctor's quest for dominion. Could Hyren really be faulted for having a good deal more vision and ambition than his meteorite-licking, troglodyte brothers and sisters?

Sloth had mutated him anyway, but allowed him to keep his mind. "You are going to be very useful to me," the green-skinned supergenius had said as Hyren inspected his new form, so much larger and stronger than what he was used to. "I will give you all the power you could ever desire, Hyren," the doctor said. "In return, all I ask is that you never renounce your loyalty to day you do will be the day you draw your last breath."

He was made perfect for conquest, Hyren thought as he flexed his meaty fingers in front of him in the belly of the carrier. He didn't miss his weak blue body a bit.

"Thirty seconds." The constant dull roar of the engines that pervaded the entire ship was joined by the thrumming whine of shields protecting the massive craft from the heat of atmospheric entry. The turbulence of hitting air after cruising through the vacuum of space made the craft rattle, and Hyren reached up and grabbed one of the support straps hanging from the ceiling. A few more moments and it would be over. He'd gone through this routine countless times before.

"Twenty seconds." The shaking lessened and the ship veered, sending Hyren leaning against the shoulder of the trooper next to him. The other mutant did not react in the slightest.

Hyren glanced up at the row of expressionless Grundo faces in front of him. It was a little strange to realise that none of them remembered their home world like he did, and had only enough cognitive ability remaining to know how to aim a blaster and follow orders. Perhaps he'd known some of them back on Doran. But they'd never understood him, anyway. And now they never would.

"Ten seconds. Prepare for deployment." At the end of the bay, next to where Hyren sat, a large door swung open. Bright daylight and hot, dry, sandy air peeled into the pristinely regulated atmosphere of the ship. Hyren squinted against the light, glad that his visor at least provided protection from the sand.

He stood up, motioning for his troops to do the same. Gripping a handhold on the inside hull, the commander planted his two-toed feet on the floor and watched as other ships circled and dove toward a walled city of alabaster spires and gleaming golden domes. The battle going on below had been instigated by the ground division a few days previous, leaving the city already smoking. Undoubtedly, the beleaguered inhabitants would point up at the black fleet, wondering what it was, not comprehending that it would be their doom.

The city wall provided an ineffectual defence against an attack from the sky, and the carriers swooped low over the ancient stone. The commander counted the remaining seconds in his head, then— "All troops… move out!" Hyren roared, leaping from the bay. His weight impacted the parched ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

Screams of chaos and the unsteady rhythm of blaster fire filled his antennae as he signaled for two of his squadron to flank him. He headed them toward the largest building in the city, intent on taking out anyone stupid enough to get in their way. If they could seize the palace, the rest of this backwards land would follow, and the planet soon after. And Hyren didn't want the honor of this conquest to go to Garoo.

An Usul with a red neck ruff jumped in front of him with a yell, brandishing a sword. "You won't take Sakhmet!" she squeaked fiercely.

Hyren quirked a heavy brow in amusement. "Just try and stop us." She screeched and pounced at his face, and he easily knocked her aside with one muscular arm. "Spread out into the streets!" he barked into his helmet. "Raid every building, capture them all!" Taking the palace was important, but Sloth would be doubly pleased if Hyren made sure to collect a deluge of new test subjects for him.

Turning into a narrow alleyway, the commander kicked down a flimsy wooden door, smashing aside a hasty barricade of crates. Behind it stood a green Techo, bow drawn. Next to the Techo was a Scorchio, purple with orange spots, hefting a battle hammer.

"Leave us alone!" the Scorchio cried, flapping her wings and swinging the hammer around to swipe at Hyren's legs. He dove forward, tackling her to the ground.

The Techo unleashed a hail of arrows, but Hyren threw up his arm and they pinged helplessly off of his gauntlet. He picked up the Scorchio and shoved her toward the other Neopet. The Techo tried to catch her, but they both were sent tumbling.

Hyren felt an obnoxious clang on the back of his helmet and it took him a moment to register he'd just been struck. Spinning around, he lunged for his attacker, pinning her to the wall and wrenching the wooden pole out of her hand.

This being was not a Neopet. She was taller than most pet species, mammalian with smooth bronze skin and long black hair. She looked at him in terror. "Sloth… Sloth came back…!"

The commander tilted his head and narrowed his large red eyes. Sloth had a special hate reserved for owners. They had foiled his plans the first time around and freed nearly all of his Grundo army, and had fallen under the auspices of his greatest nemesis, the Space Faerie.

"Let her go!" the Scorchio yelled, and Hyren was suddenly tackled from behind by the two Neopets. They dragged him to the ground, allowing the girl to break free.

He grappled with them for a few seconds before letting out a roar and rolling over, pinning them beneath one large hand and tearing their weapons away. Curling his fingers around the pets, he picked them up so they could see the girl being slung over a Grundo soldier's back, kicking and screaming and reaching for her pets.

Hyren handed them over to the other trooper. "Take them back to the ship with the others," he said. "I'll check upstairs for anything that thinks it can hide from me." If there were any more pets or owners hiding out in here, Hyren would get quite a bounty from Sloth in return.

The sounds of battle outside intensified as the commander climbed to the second floor alone. The air shook with regular explosions and occasionally the entire building would rock, sand and debris blowing in through the open windows.

Ripping a curtain off of its rings, Hyren stalked through the entryway at the top of the stairs and into a simple living area. Antennae low, he scanned the room with his bio-sensors. No signs of life, but perhaps that pathetic little family had been hiding treasure. He knelt down on the floor and moved to check under the bed.

"We're pulling out, Hyren," Garoo's voice snapped through the comm.

Hyren paused. "Wait—what?!"

"They have reinforcements coming in from the north, we're vastly outnumbered!"

"Garoo! Ugh…" Hyren scooted out from under the bed and bumped his helmet on the underside, hissing in annoyance. "Fine, I'll redirect the troops—"

A deafening boom sounded. The entire building shuddered and rippled, swaying like it was made of jelly. Dust sifted from the ceiling as Hyren staggered to stand, and he looked up and saw a swarm of black ships retreating into the sky.

"You misunderstand me, Hyren," Garoo cut in again, his voice suddenly taking on a sinister edge. "We're leaving _right now_."

Hyren glanced at the corner of his HUD and saw that Garoo was using a private channel. "What are you doing?!" he hissed.

"Making sure I get all the glory for this," Garoo said. The Blumaroo snickered. "Nice knowing you, _commander_."

The roof cracked and buckled, and the last thing Hyren remembered was pain.


	2. Chapter 2

As he came back into consciousness, Hyren's head rang as though he was trapped in a world of cacophony. He lay there for a moment, astonished that he was alive and in too much pain and disorientation to do much else.

After a few moments, the clamor began to resolve into voices.

"How many did they take?"

"Initial reports are saying a hundred… possibly a hundred fifty. And they left many more wounded."

Hyren realised that he was trapped under something heavy and angular—the ruins of the ceiling, obviously. Thank the fates his armour had held. Opening his eyes tentatively, all was dark and cold, and the air smelled of dust, sweat, and fire. His HUD was blank and not even the hiss of static came from the comm channel. The electronics were likely scrambled.

"Yikes. Any way to track them?"

"Not that the authorities know of, according to Coltzan. The strike force vanished into deep space, past the Space Station's tracking abilities."

"Those poor pets and owners… Do you think the Space Faerie will do something about it?"

"I sure hope so. She's helped in the past, anyway."

"Well, the legends do say she appears to valiant Neopets in their time of greatest need. Let's just hope those legends are true."

The voices were coming closer, and Hyren heard the grinding sound of shifting brick and the clatter of wood and pottery. In spite of the pain, he struggled to move, but the rubble had him hemmed in on all sides.

"What's—did you hear something?"

"Yeah, over there…"

Chunks of the debris on top of him were suddenly slid aside, allowing flickering firelight to reach his vision. A low growl emitted from his throat, ashamed at being found like a child who was a poor sport at hide-and-seek.

"Good gracious!" A green Quiggle holding a torch stood over him, using one webbed hand to try to clear more of the collapsed ceiling. "There's someone under here! Hurry!"

A burly red Kau appeared in Hyren's field of view, helping the Quiggle clear away pieces of brick. "Are they—" The two stopped cold suddenly, their eyes growing wide as they stared down at their unusual discovery.

Hyren seized that opportunity. Ignoring his wounds and his aching head for the time being, he burst out of the remaining rubble. His two "rescuers" stumbled back with shouts of surprise. And then he was off running. His scientifically-enhanced stamina would carry him through the burst of adrenaline until he could find a more opportune time to be out of commission.

"It's one of Sloth's troops! Get him!" the Kau bellowed. Out of the corners of his vision, Hyren saw other Neopets begin to converge on him. Some of them had weapons, some of them had shovels and other tools they were wielding as weapons, and none of them looked happy to see him.

The commander was proud, but he also wasn't stupid, and he knew when he was outmatched. Dodging the swing of an Aisha's scimitar, he used the momentum to vault himself onto a Skeith's broad back and spring from there onto a low veranda. The footing was poor, his bare feet scraping away stucco as he scrambled to pull himself onto a balcony.

"Blasted city," he muttered, swinging his leg over the ledge and dropping onto the terrace. The wall wasn't much farther away now.

Neither was a trio of Eyries carrying spears. Letting out cries that pierced through the air, they swooped down on him. Hyren lifted a large urn by the doorway beside him, using it as a shield to deflect the foremost Eyrie's attack and push her off course. She screeched in annoyance as she was sent tumbling through the air. Her two wingpets arched around for another pass.

That was all the time Hyren needed to push off the edge of the balcony and lunge for the building next door, pulling himself onto the roof. He took off at a sprint, bounding from rooftop to rooftop towards the city wall. In the moonlight, he could adequately see the path ahead and judge how much energy he could expend, when to jump and where. His body screamed for rest, but to shift to a lower gear now would mean the end.

The Eyries shrieked again as they closed in. Hyren reached down to pull his blaster from its holster – it was still there – and check the power levels—it still worked. There wasn't much in this galaxy he trusted besides his own good equipment, and it sure knew how to come through for him.

Twisting around, he aimed a few shots at the Eyries, clumsy but hopefully enough to get them to back off. Hyren had never been the best sharpshooter - he preferred close combat where he could take advantage of his brute strength - but one of the blaster bolts connected and an Eyrie crumpled to the previous rooftop, stunned.

And suddenly Hyren was at the wall. Promising his aching body it could rest soon, the commander set his sights on a damaged portion of the thick rampart and leaped. For one breathless moment he felt frozen in the air, glancing down at the dumbfounded mob of pets in the tiny alley below.

Then he landed, slipping on the crumbling stone and plummeting toward the sand. He tucked himself into a roll, clenching his teeth as his bruised shoulder absorbed the shock of the fall, then sprang up and took off running. It hadn't exactly been graceful, but it had gotten him where he needed to be: outside Sakhmet.

"Quick, let's go after him!" he could hear one of the Eyries say to her superior as Hyren escaped into the night.

"No need," the other female replied. "He won't last long out there. And Sloth is light-years away. This guy is on his own."

Her last words bit into Hyren's mind as he crested a sand dune and slid down the other side, falling to his knees at the base, his chest heaving. On his own. He was _alone_. Alone on a hostile planet he was supposed to have helped conquer.

That thought reached its natural conclusion as he craned his neck to look at the vast night sky, full of other worlds he had subjugated. Somewhere, out there, was a spacefleet that had left behind one of its most elite officers. Did they even bother looking for him before they retreated? Garoo wouldn't have, Hyren thought bitterly, clenching a handful of sand in his fist and squeezing the gritty grains to distract himself from his rage. Garoo would be all too quick to announce his fellow commander's demise—and take his share of the bounty and fame.

With an angry shout, Hyren threw the sand down and sat back on the dune, rubbing his thick arms to try to keep himself warm. After all he had done for Sloth, the man didn't even feel it necessary to attempt to save him. Hyren had built up a reputation of power only to be discarded like a broken toy. With these and other confused thoughts circling in his mind, the commander's fatigue finally took over and he closed his eyes, lulled to sleep by the singing of the night wind across the desert.


	3. Chapter 3

The heat woke him, first. Hyren opened his eyes and realised he'd chosen the wrong side of the dune to fall asleep on. He was already sunbaked and sticky with sweat, his helmet unbearably stuffy. With a groan, he pulled it off, letting the desert wind cool his head for all too brief a period before it turned to hot again. He was sore all over, although he guessed that being trapped under a collapsed building did that to a person.

He'd been in wilderness survival situations before, on other worlds. The only thing different about this was that it was only him this time, no troops to command or other officers to work with. He kept reminding himself to just be grateful he didn't have to deal with incompetents, but he still felt strange being so isolated.

First up was a check of his own condition. He'd certainly been in better shape, but he'd also been in worse. His wounds would heal with time and rest. His blaster still had some energy, his armour was in remarkably good physical condition, and he had a week's supply of ration capsules. Really the only loss was his armour's power. The shock of the collapse had probably damaged the electronics, and the dust and sand weren't helping matters, either. Hyren just needed to find a place to recuperate and wait to be found.

And thus he set off through the sand, slogging into the boundless wastes, until the sun finally got too hot and he napped in the shadow of a dune. He continued this way for several more days, sleeping during the hottest parts of the day and keeping on the move otherwise. He was heading toward a dark mass of rock that shimmered on the horizon, thinking that it would be more hospitable than the open sands.

Some sort of winged creatures occasionally wheeled overhead, a species of the class of nonsapient beings referred to as Petpets on this planet. Intel dossiers further specified that these feathered Petpets were known as Horuses, Hyren remembered. They casually called to each other as they rode the thermal currents, soaring in lazy circles. But there was no one calling to _him_ , Hyren thought.

Finally, at the rocks he found sanctuary: a good-sized cavern, completely unpopulated except for a few Petpets who stayed hidden in the darkness. The cave contained a spring of crystal-cold water gushing perpetually from an underground source. Where it flowed out onto the sand, a small oasis of palms and fruit trees had sprung.

For the next long while, Hyren lived off the land. There was more than enough food and water to sustain him, but he was also left alone with his thoughts. Sloth couldn't have just abandoned him, could he? Surely the overlord would not take Garoo at his word concerning the demise of one of Virtupets's most elite warriors. Right?

But if that was the case, why hadn't they come back for him by now? Should he chance looking for them himself? He knew he would be detained on sight if he wandered anywhere near civilization. Even if he wasn't wearing his armour, everybody knew mutant Grundos were Sloth's making.

Still, he was resourceful, and he knew he could figure out a way back to Sloth if he tried. But what then? What if the doctor was disappointed in him for this whole misadventure? Hyren's stomach twisted whenever he thought of that. Sloth was not known for being merciful to those who disappointed him.

Unless Hyren went out of his way to regain favor in his master's eyes. And the sure way to Sloth's heart was to provide him with new test subjects. Hyren would have to be sure to find some.

But there was no one else out here, just the wind and the Petpets. After a while he got to know their habits well, how herds of black-horned Nuks would crowd around the edge of the water for a sorely-needed drink, the way Keprus chased each other around the sands and tugged at each other's large ears, which rocks most likely had gold-skinned Scamanders curled underneath.

Occasionally the commander made cursory explorations of the tunnels in back of the cavern, but he never got very far, as he couldn't find the necessary materials to make a torch. There didn't seem to be anything of any interest there, just barren stone.

And every morning, before he went to sleep to ride out the hottest part of the day, Hyren would put on his helmet and listen. It remained nonfunctional, but his listening became a daily ritual. It was the only thing still capable of connecting him to his life and livelihood, to the man he swore loyalty to. Every night, he would stare up at the stars for a long while, hoping to see familiar lights moving among them. He could not lose his reason for fighting.

His wounds healed and he'd long stopped keeping track of the days, but eventually Hyren reached a point where he knew he'd be moving on soon. It was funny how already the caves had started to feel like a home to him, he thought as he plucked a blue-and-yellow-striped fruit from its bough at sunset. Hyren hadn't stayed in the same place for this long since he'd joined Sloth. Maybe this planet's atmosphere was doing funny things to his brain. He needed to get back to regiment and warfare—he feared he was going soft.

But maybe he was purposely putting off returning. After all, he didn't quite know what he would find when he got there. Perhaps Sloth had wanted him out of the way all along—

The sound of voices approaching made his antennae perk up and he froze.

"Terra, are you sure this is it? We've been walking all day!"

"Well, the map says… yeah. Compasses don't lie, at least."

Fruit in hand, Hyren bolted back toward the mouth of the cave, knowing the shadows would conceal him. Pressed against the cavern wall, his armour cushioning him from the uneven rock, he watched the dunes as the two voices drew closer.

"Hey, look! There's the cave! What do you think we'll find in there? Treasure? Cool shiny stuff?"

"Just think, there's a whole lost civilization that we could discover, if this old map has a shred of truth to it! How cool would that be?"

"Pretty much the most cool thing ever!"

The two voices were young, and female, but one was quiet while the other was more energetic. Hyren gulped down the fruit, tossing away the pit, not taking his eyes off of the desert beyond.

Finally, the owners of the voices emerged from over the top of the sands, both wearing dusty cloaks and toting backpacks with bedrolls. One was a red Zafara, her long tail waving behind her as her large feet effortlessly supported her on the sand. The other was an owner, pale-skinned with scattered freckles, her brown hair tied back from her face and ceaselessly tossed by the desert wind. She looked to be in her early teens, with a willowy build and blue-grey eyes partially obscured by glasses.

Hyren narrowed his eyes. There they were—the key to tempering Sloth's ire. And from their conversation, they seemed to be heading right into his lair. With a snicker, he secured his armour and retreated farther into the darkness, watching them like a Horus.

"Oh, wow!" the owner said, stopping short when she noticed the pond, while the Zafara stumbled down the dune a bit. "An oasis! Funny, that's not on the map…" The girl held up an ancient-looking roll of paper, examining it. "Although, considering its age, it was possibly drawn before the oasis even existed…"

Meanwhile, the Neopet let out a whoop and dropped her pack, flinging away her cloak and running headlong into the pool, scaring away a small herd of Apises. "Look at all this _water!_ " she said, splashing about with wanton abandon.

"And fruit!" the owner added, kneeling down to refill hers and the Zafara's canteens. She rose again and moved toward the fruit trees while the Neopet continued to frolic in the pond.

The commander frowned. _Let that annoying thing get her own water,_ he thought. No wonder pets with owners were such weaklings, always depending on someone else to get things done. He felt a good deal of pride at being stronger than that.

Finally the Zafara trudged out of the pool, shaking herself off and wringing out her dripping long ears to join the owner at one of the trees that shaded the oasis. The teen was plucking large blue fruits and stuffing them in her pack. "Here, Blynn, have a Blusops." She tossed one of the fruits to the Zafara, who snatched it out of the air and bit into it with gusto, making her owner chuckle.

Why were they taking so long, Hyren wondered, his antennae lowering in impatience. This cave was their destination, wasn't it?

Just as the thought came to his mind, the girl shouldered her pack and looked toward the cavern entrance. "Well… are you ready for this?" She sounded a little uneasy.

"You bet!" The Zafara produced a shuttered lantern from her pack. "Come on, I wanna check this place out! Who knows what we'll discover!"

The owner smiled. "Yeah… let's do this!" She punched the air and led her companion forward. Once they had passed the threshold into shadow, the Zafara opened a window on one side of the lantern, allowing the warm, steady glow of a Fire Mote to illuminate their path.

As she did so, the two of them both drew in a gasp, and Hyren had to restrain himself from doing so as well. The room blossomed into vivid colour, and what he thought was an ordinary cave turned out to be covered with gigantic murals of Neopets in elaborate robes and headdresses, entwined with intricate floral and geometric patterns. Suddenly Hyren felt a twinge of regret that he'd never brought light into the cavern, instead skulking about in shadow and completely missing what was in front of his face all along.

"Wow… I guess that weird old Poogle was right!" the Zafara said. Her voiced ricocheted sharply off the walls, causing Hyren to grab his antennae and grimace.

"Amazing…" the owner breathed, moving toward the murals, where she studied the rainbow-hued portrait of a regal-looking Lupe. "The lost empire of Alxuin… so here's where it went."

The Zafara trotted over to her, tail waving slowly as she held up the lantern. "Hey, look." She pressed a finger to the wall. "There's writing here! It looks weird, Terra, what does it say?"

"Nooo idea." The girl shrugged. "I'm not exactly an expert on ancient Neopian languages. And careful with that paint, it must be super old!"

Hyren noticed his opportunity. Taking in a quiet breath, he stepped toward their turned backs, his large bare feet making no noise on the hard stone. A small rock crumbled beneath one of his footfalls. His jaw clenched, but it was a miniscule noise, surely not noticeable.

The Zafara's ears twitched and she whipped around. Her motion caused the girl to turn as well, and the two stared straight up at the mutant Grundo, more confused than scared. He froze in mid-step, and for an awkward moment the three just looked at each other.

Then he lunged at them.

Both Neopet and owner shrieked. The Zafara used her powerful hind legs to spring out of the way, but the girl was slower to react and Hyren caught her wrist, yanking her into the air. "Let—go—!" she said, thrashing and kicking as she tried to pry away his thick fingers.

Hyren spun around, expecting to see a Zafara foot headed for his face. Instead, the creature was on the far end of the cavern, dancing foolishly near the entrance to a tunnel. "Can't catch me!" she taunted, hopping from one foot to another as she dangled the lantern in front of her.

The commander roared in frustration and slung the girl over his shoulder, sprinting after the Zafara. "Come back here!" he yelled into the darkness, agitated that the thing wasn't idiotic enough to try to face him head-on, and was making his job a lot harder than he wanted it to be. He supposed he could just take the girl and leave her Neopet to be lost in the subterranean labyrinth, but he didn't know if Sloth had successfully mutated any Zafaras yet, and Hyren wanted to get on the doctor's good side as much as possible.

Through the dim halls, a mocking giggle echoed. "Over here, dung-for-brains!"

"I'll have Sloth save his worst experiments for you, you little furball!" Hyren replied. Even with the glow of the Zafara's lantern, the cavern complex was dim and fuzzy and the Grundo sometimes had to slow down to make sure he wasn't going to run into a wall.

"You leave her alone!" the owner said. She twisted around in Hyren's grip, bringing her knee up and ramming it into the visor of his helmet with unexpected fierceness.

"Gah!" The Mutant Grundo was caught off guard by the blow and staggered backward, dazed by the pain. He tried to catch himself on a wall that he had misjudged to be there, and instead felt himself falling back even further, losing balance completely. Instinctively he curled his back to tuck into a roll, but the hall suddenly lit with orange and he stumbled over something.

"Hah!" the Zafara yelled. "I've got—"

Before she could even finish her sentence, Hyren heard a familiar low grinding and a knot instantly formed in his stomach. "Oh, _no_ ," he said as the floor suddenly gave way beneath him, sending all three of them sliding into darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

While the owner and the Neopet wasted their time screaming, Hyren reached out and grabbed the Zafara by her long ears, throwing her against his chest. She'd had the good sense to at least hold on to the lantern, and it lit their way through a cloud of dust and fractured rock as they were propelled down a sinuous shaft that finally spit them out into a larger space.

Hyren hit the floor with such an impact that it briefly blacked out his vision and sent his two captives flying out of his grasp. Rock rained down on him and something heavy slammed into his leg, forcing a cry of pain from his throat. For a moment, all was dark and silent except for the last remnants of the collapsed floor trickling down, clattering tauntingly against his armour like hail.

"Terra, are you okay?" the Zafara asked from somewhere beyond his reach, lost in the murky gloom. "Oh, come _on_ , little fella…" There was the sound of tapping on metal, and then the Fire Mote's steady glow began to dispel the shadows again in a small space around her.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine. Looks like my pack made it, too. Oh, there's my glasses... Are _you_ okay?" Their voices echoed emptily, giving Hyren the idea that this room was much more voluminous than the entrance.

"Yep… wait, lemme check… ow… well, a few bumps and bruises, but other than that I'm good."

The two picked themselves up from what looked to be an elaborate tile floor with the same kinds of decorative motifs as the murals above. Then, they turned to Hyren.

Gritting his teeth, he tried to pull himself out from under the rocks. They wouldn't budge, and he was trapped on his stomach so he had no way of extracting himself. And he couldn't get to his blaster. For the first time in a long while, the icy hand of panic gripped him, and he swallowed hard. He was at their mercy.

The girl took a few tentative steps toward him, and then crouched down, putting her hands on her knees and tilting her head. "You're a mutant Grundo, aren't you?" she asked.

Hyren narrowed his eyes. "Of course," he snarled.

"And… you work for Doctor Sloth?"

"Yes." The answer still came quickly, even though Hyren had to remind himself that he had been missing from the overlord's army for… well, it had to have been months, now, he realised. "Go ahead. Leave me here," the commander said. "I'm sure it's a fitting form of justice for what I've done on your planet."

By now, the Zafara had joined her owner's side, and the Neopet gave Hyren a sceptical look. "Why would we do that?" she asked.

The Grundo's antennae twitched. "Because I'm one of Sloth's top commanding officers? Because I led the forces that conquered ten thousand worlds?" His voice rose in exasperation and he pounded one meaty fist on the floor. "Because I'm trying to _kidnap you_ , blast it?!" What kind of imbeciles was he dealing with?

"We're not leaving you here," the girl said, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Come on, Blynn, help me move these rocks." The Zafara dutifully set the lantern down and went to help her shift the stone away from Hyren.

The Grundo folded his arms under his broad chin a little petulantly. "You know, I think there's a psychological term for this," he said under his breath. "Some kind of syndrome." When they lifted the rock from his leg, he swiftly twisted over, intending to rise to his feet, but the pain lingered and did not allow him to stand. Hissing, he drew his legs inward defensively, pulling off his shin plate and checking the wound.

"It's fine, go away," he insisted as the owner moved toward him. He tried to brush her back with the wave of a hand.

"I… um, I have first aid supplies in my pack…" she said, swinging it off of her shoulder and unzipping a pocket. She held out a roll of bandages and a small glass bottle full of pale purple liquid. "Do you need help?"

He pointed to the bottle. "What's that?"

"A Healing Potion. It's one of the cheaper ones," she explained, "because Blynn's not a battling pet, so she doesn't need a stronger variety. But… it might help a little." She offered it to him.

Hyren glared at her for a moment. "You really are loony, aren't you." Before she could respond, he took the bandages and the bottle. He uncorked the crystalline container and sniffed the liquid inside—it smelled like a combination of mint and fresh cut grass. "Okay. How do I use this?" he asked, glancing over at her.

"Either drink it or apply it to the wound," she said. "I think I have some gauze…" She began to rifle around in her pack.

The Grundo commander narrowed his eyes, swirling the potion around slowly as he inspected it for anything amiss. "You could be lying. Trying to poison me."

"Nope, it's good!" the Zafara said, bounding in front of him. "You don't believe me? Here, I'll drink some!" She held out one hand and he placed the potion in it warily. She raised it to her muzzle and downed a sip. "Ah, refreshing," she sighed, wiping her mouth with her arm.

Hyren sat back and stared, not really sure what to make of her. "I'll just use a bit of it," he said, taking the gauze the owner was offering him and placing a few drops of the healing liquid on it before applying it to his leg. He cringed, expecting some form of stinging, but the sensation that met him was cool and refreshing, and somehow relaxing.

"Hm… this is good stuff," he said, handing the bottle back. "Faerie magic, right?"

"Yep." The girl nodded. "So… what's your name?" she asked, resting her head in her hands. "I'm Terra, and this is my Zafara, Blynn679."

"Or 'Blynn' for short," the Zafara said. "Or 'Six-Seven-Nine', I guess. Ooh, or 'Three Hundred Seventy-Eight'!"

"What?" Hyren lifted a brow, looking up from wrapping his ankle.

"That's six times seven times nine!" she said with a grin, placing her hands on her hips.

The Grundo looked over to Terra. "Is she always like this?" he asked.

"Yes," the owner replied with a mirthful grin. "Okay, your turn."

"Hyren. _Commander_ Hyren," he emphasised, "of the Planetary Invasion Corps of the Grand Spacefleet of Doctor Frank Sloth. Anyway, enough chit-chat. We need to keep moving if we want to make it out of here," Hyren grumbled, pushing himself to his feet. As soon as he put weight on his wounded leg, it let out a fresh burst of pain in protest and he grunted, kneeling back down.

"I don't think you're in any condition to go anywhere," Terra said. "Let's just rest here a while, until the potion starts to take effect."

Hyren pouted like a child not getting the slushie flavor they wanted. "Fine. But don't forget you're still my prisoners. As soon as we get out of here, it's off to Sloth's flagship. And don't even think about trying to escape from me, I have a hundred ways of tracking you down." Never mind the fact that they could both run faster than him at the moment, and Blynn was annoyingly tricky. He just needed to intimidate them into sticking with him until he found a way to get off this miserable planet.

"I wonder _how_ we get out of here…" Terra said. "And where here _is_ , exactly…" She looked up and around.

Hyren did so as well. The room was so large that the Fire Mote's glow didn't reach the ceiling or walls, leaving the three of them in a tiny island of light amidst darkness so oppressive he could almost taste it. Involuntarily, a shudder ran up his spine. He didn't like feeling so small, so insignificant… so powerless. "What did you say this place was?" he asked. "It feels like some kind of tomb."

"I'm not entirely sure…" Terra unrolled the map, which had survived their encounter miraculously unscathed. "I got this old map from the marketplace in Sakhmet. The lady who sold it to me told me that it would lead me to the 'last bastion of the Alxuin Dynasty'. Which is… here, I guess."

"'Last bastion', huh? Sounds pretty foreboding…" Obviously, Hyren thought, things hadn't quite worked out well for the Alxuin. It made his skin prickle to wonder what might be wandering these catacombs.

"Hey, you guys!" Blynn suddenly shouted, making Hyren nearly jump out of his skin. "It looks like there's some kind of lever on the wall!" Hyren turned to see her standing next to a large metal handle. "I wonder what it does…" She rubbed her chin and then reached for it.

All of Hyren's common sense screamed at him to react. "Whatever you do, don't—!"

She pushed it down. "Don't what?"

He buried his face in his hand. "Never mind." Shoulders hunched, he awaited his doom as he heard grinding gears and faintly felt the tingle of magic in the air.

Instead of the springing of some heinous trap, however, he heard a rumbling from the ceiling and a bright yellow light spilled into the room from above. He looked up to see stone slabs pulling away, revealing round bays set into the ceiling that held countless orbs of slowly dancing illumination. The light was so strong that it easily drowned out the lantern, looking like some titanic force had punched holes in the bedrock to let shafts of daylight through. Terra gasped beside him, and then gasped again as her sight fell to take in the room around them.

Hyren followed suit, and his jaw dropped. They had landed in the midst of an enormous hall with a soaring ceiling held up by thick pillars, and a floor covered in huge piles of gold, gems, silks, and jars stuffed with scrolls. Paintings spanned both walls in the same style as the entrance cavern, displaying a vast panorama of ages long past, and beneath the murals stood colossal statues of various species of Neopets, grim armoured guardians of wealth. At the end of the hall nearest to the three were an immense set of tall stone doors – shut – and the far end terminated in a raised dais holding a single, empty throne of black marble. On the wall above it was an emblem of a stylised sun cradled in two crossed swords.

"Holy Kau…" Blynn breathed, turning around slowly to take it all in.

"A throne room…" Terra said. "But… why is there treasure here?"

"These scrolls are boring," Blynn said, having pulled one out from its jar and starting to unroll it. "There's no pictures."

"Here, let me see," Terra said. The Zafara handed her owner the scroll and she scrutinised it.

Hyren leaned over to catch a look. It was covered in strange characters, an utterly unfamiliar writing system from what he'd seen of this planet's culture.

"This doesn't look like modern Neopian at all," Terra said. "It doesn't even look like the traditional Sakhmetian characters on Coltzan's Shrine. Amazing…" She scanned the scroll for a while longer, and then gingerly rolled it back up and set it aside. "I wonder what happened here…"

"There was a war," Hyren replied.

Terra looked over at him. "What? How do you know that?"

He pointed at the murals above them. The first set depicted lavish scenes of banquets and festivals. "These Neopets were nice enough to leave their entire history in visual form," Hyren said. "It's pretty easy to figure out what happened. See, they must have once been a mighty empire that held sway over a large region, amassing wealth rapidly. And I'm willing to bet they weren't very nice about it."

The commander's finger moved to the next set, which showed scenes of battle and destruction, and of finely dressed pets fleeing into the sands. "So one or more of their vassal states rose up against them, and started to gain the upper hand." He glanced down at Terra to see if she was following. She was looking up at the murals, utterly engrossed like he was telling her a bedtime story, and when he paused she turned to him with eyes full of wonder.

No one had ever looked at him like that before, so trusting like a child to a parent, and it made him stop in his thoughts for a moment. Then he moved on, trying to regain his composure. "They took everything of value and escaped out to these caves, probably an old fortress of theirs." He pointed to the last painting, which showed the room they were now in. A powerful-looking Kacheek sat upon the throne, surrounded by a merry court dancing and making music. A sweet-faced lie to try to deny their own desperation, Hyren knew.

"They didn't make it, did they," Terra said.

Hyren shook his head. "Most likely not. I've seen similar things happen. It's the same old story, every time."

"You must see a lot in your job," the girl said, scanning the murals again.

He grinned. "More than you can dream of." For reasons he couldn't quite explain, he wanted to tell her all of his stories. Maybe he wanted to see that starry look in her eyes again.

"Hey guys!" Blynn's shrill voice cut through the quietude. "Check me out!" She was sitting sideways on the throne, a large, gold-petaled crown perched lopsided on her head as she shook her fist. "Bow before me, peons! I am Empress Blynn the 679th, eminent sovereign of all the land!"

Terra laughed and bowed low. "All hail Her Gloriousness!"

Hyren rolled his eyes, and couldn't help but chuckle a little. Sure, he had seen empires rise and fall – many of them fall by his hand – but he'd never quite seen anything like this, a little Neopet using as her playground the abandoned treasure halls of long-gone monarchs.

The Zafara picked up an amethyst-encrusted staff from beside the throne and twirled it around before pointing it at Terra. "As my first decree of the day, I hereby bestow upon you the title of Imperial Dinner-Haver!"

Terra caught her breath and then laughed again. "'Dinner-Haver', huh?"

"Yeah, I'm starved!" Blynn threw away the sceptre and headdress and bounded down from the throne, running back along the wide aisle. "Between walking all day and running into one of Sloth's commanders and finding the ruins of a lost civilization…" She shoved her head and arms into her pack, her tail waving excitedly behind her as she rustled around. "Makes a Zafara pretty hungry, y'know?"

Hyren sighed at being reminded of who he was. "You're not taking this seriously at all, are you," he said. Playtime was over—he had a job to get back to, and he needed to start acting the part if he wanted Sloth to take him back.

Blynn emerged holding two paper packages tied with string, setting them on the floor and then leaning on her pack while she chewed a bite of sandwich. "Okay, you want Blueberry Jam or Asparagus and Leek?"

"What?" The Grundo stared at the packages in confusion. Were they seriously offering him food?

"For your dinner?" Blynn nudged the packages with her foot. "I'd offer you Cheese and Pickle but I already ate all of those."

"And good riddance," Terra said, making a face.

Hyren frowned. "Don't you get it?!" he snapped. "You're my _hostages!_ I'm going to take you back to Doctor Sloth and he's going to perform experiments on you! You're supposed to be _afraid of me!_ "

The pet and owner fell into somber silence, and they both looked at each other and then back at him. Blynn moved as if she was going to speak, but Terra preempted her. "We _are_ afraid," the girl said quietly. "But we also know we stand the best chance of getting out of here in one piece if you help us. I'll worry about what's going to happen to us when the time comes, but for now… the three of us have to work together."

The Grundo allowed a smug smile to slide up his face as he relaxed slightly. "Heh. So it's not just that you couldn't stand to leave me here out of the goodness of your little hearts," he said.

Terra blushed and looked aside, fidgeting with one of the straps on her pack. "Well… th-that's still part of it…"

Hyren wasn't surprised at her ulterior motive. Everyone he'd ever met had worked for their own best interests. He would not delude himself into thinking that these two were any different. "Right, then. I'll have the Asparagus and Leek," he said.


	5. Chapter 5

The three ate in silence after that. Neither Terra nor Blynn made an attempt to say anything and Hyren didn't try to get them to. He couldn't blame them, really. They were young—they probably didn't understand at first the gravity of their situation. It would take a while for things to sink in.

Once he was done with his sandwiches, he removed his helmet and fiddled with it absently. It was still nonfunctional and he decided to finally let go of the meager hope of it ever working again, but it provided protection for his head and face, at least.

"Well. We're going to camp in here for the night," he said once Terra and Blynn had finished their food. "Despite its age, this room looks pretty stable, with no signs of decay except for that hole we fell through. In the morning, we'll start finding our way out."

Terra nodded morosely, wadding up her paper and stuffing it in her backpack. She glanced over at Blynn, who returned the look and took a sip from her canteen before trudging over to the piles of treasure, systematically inspecting each gold coin and string of pearls.

After a moment, Terra joined her, although the owner's interest was more in the scrolls. Hyren watched as they made their rounds of the room, murmuring to each other, looking at everything, and, most surprisingly to him, putting things back when they were done.

"Seems a shame to leave all of this… it'd fetch a pretty Neopoint in the market," the Grundo said.

They stopped and looked back at him. "We don't do this for the money," Terra replied, a little shortly. "We're explorers. We find things just to find them."

"Yeah. We love going on adventures." Blynn's tone had all the enthusiasm of a deflated balloon.

"I wonder if the Sakhmet Museum of History might be able to decipher this writing…" Terra said as she unrolled another scroll. "I wonder what these people wrote about that was so important that they put it in a treasure room. Maybe it's poems, or stories."

His wounded leg stretched out in front of him, Hyren folded his hands behind his head and reclined on the rock pile. His eyes moved from the two youngsters combing the room, to the murals overhead and the dancing magic shedding its light on them. All was quiet except for the occasional clinking of metal or clatter of wood from the contents of the treasure piles being investigated. Hyren didn't get many quiet times like this. When he wasn't training, he was fighting. To sit back and rest for a while felt alien.

Terra came back to her pack and pulled out a sketchbook and a pencil, and began going around the room again, balancing the sketchbook on her knees as she crouched in front of golden statuettes, engraved plates, and painted vases. Blynn, meanwhile, preoccupied herself with seeing how high she could stack coins before they toppled.

After what felt to Hyren like a long while, the pet and owner finally returned to their little bivouac and laid out their bedrolls. "Am I ever gonna get a Petpet?" Blynn asked as she pulled a green Blumaroo plushie out of her pack and hugged it tight, rolling back on her sleeping bag.

"Sure, I don't see why not." Terra's comfort item turned out to be a book, _Koi Tales_. "Do you know what kind you want?"

"A _cool_ one," Blynn said, squinting her eyes as she stared up into the light. "Like, not a Greeble. Or a Doglefox, _everybody_ has a Doglefox."

Terra laughed, taking off her glasses and cracking the thick volume open to where she had placed a bookmark. "Well, when you figure out which one you _do_ want, let me know. We'll go play some Meerca Chase." Hyren noticed that her tone had a certain hidden tension to it that wasn't there before. She was suddenly more nervous, and he didn't think it had much to do with his presence.

"Oh, could you hit the lights?" Terra asked Blynn just as the Zafara was about to slide into her sleeping bag.

"Yeah, sure thing." Blynn got up and went to the wall, putting all of her weight into shoving the switch back upward. Thick stone obscured the magical lighting once more, and it took a few moments for Hyren's eyes to adjust to the lantern's comparatively glow. The Zafara opened a window on the other side of the lantern, allowing the Fire Mote's illumination to spill out over a wider area instead of being concentrated in one direction.

As she settled down to sleep, Hyren pondered over how much like a camping scene this looked like, in spite of the strange choice of campsite. Now that darkness hovered around them again, it made him almost wonder if the treasure surrounding them had been merely an illusion.

After reading for a while, Terra set the book on her stomach and looked over at him. "Are you gonna be cold tonight?" she asked.

"Huh?" He blinked, breaking away from his thoughts and glancing over at her. "I'll be fine. My metabolism is hardier than yours. I'm built for endurance." He had to admit, Sloth's genetic alterations had been pretty ingenious. Hyren and others of his kind were physically perfect warriors. He smirked. "I thought you were angry with me."

She grimaced and picked up the book again, obviously just pretending to read. "I'm not. It's pointless to get angry," she insisted, her face conveniently hidden.

Hyren sighed. "Let me guess, you're hoping if you're friendly enough, Mister Big Bad Grundo is going to have a change of heart and let you go. Well, I'm sorry, it only happens that way in stories. This is my job, and what matters most at the end of the day is getting my job done. I don't feel beholden to you or your Neopet for anything. There's no emotional bond to be made here." His eyes hardened. "Besides, I'm not someone you want to be friends with. I'm not a very nice person."

Terra's face scrunched and she rolled over, pulling her sleeping bag over her head.

Hyren's antennae twitched as he heard a small sob. "Point proven," he muttered, reaching over and shutting the lantern windows, engulfing them in darkness.

He wasn't sleeping. He'd spent most of the day asleep and now was the time when he would be wide awake, out scavenging the sands. But it would be dangerous to try to make these two move through unknown, ancient, and most probably hazardous places if they were fatigued.

The rocks at his back were just as hard as his situation, the commander thought as he shifted uncomfortably. He'd never really had to deal with—well, taking care of other sapient beings before. The Mutant Grundo soldiers under his command had all the thinking power of automatons, and it was merely his job to direct them in battle. His fellow high-ranking officers needed no looking after, and he rarely saw them, anyway, dispersed throughout the fleet as they all were.

But these things sleeping in front of him had minds and emotions. They laughed, they cried, they played and learned and asked him questions and he told them stories in response. Hyren couldn't shake his memories of the look on Terra's face when he interpreted the murals for her. For some reason, it wasn't something he wanted to forget.

He watched Blynn's sleeping bag rise and fall, the leaf-shaped tip of her tail lolling lazily out the side and swishing back and forth. Terra had long since become silent, but her breathing betrayed her. Far from the deep steady rhythm of sleep, it was short, erratic, and forced.

"You okay?" Hyren whispered before he could stop himself. His voice came out hoarse and husky like the shadows were trying to choke him. He had to make sure no harm came to his hostages, he told himself. Sloth wouldn't be too happy with defective experimental subjects, after all.

The sleeping bag shifted. "I'm scared." The voice that met him was shaky, on the verge of cracking.

Hyren sighed and rolled his eyes. "Look, we've been over this already—"

"I'm claustrophobic."

"Oh." The Grundo reached over and unlatched the lantern window, allowing it to hang ajar. The Mote within was dormant and dim, and Hyren tapped the side of its metal casing like he had seen Blynn do earlier. The little fire entity crackled in annoyance before flaring up again. Terra sat up and hugged her knees to her chest, her cheeks streaked with tears.

The commander scrutinised her for a moment. She really was just a child, he realised, feeling lost and scared and alone in a situation beyond her control. Had he ever felt that way? If so, it was too long ago to remember. "You seemed fine earlier," he said.

She rubbed her sleeve over her eyes. "I was trying to be brave for Blynn. But the truth is, we don't go deep underground like this, and never for this long." The girl huddled against herself like the surrounding darkness was her enemy. "I've never slept somewhere I can't see the sky. I'm really scared," she said again, her whispering growing more frantic. "What if this whole cave falls in on us? What if we run out of air down here… what if there's no way out?"

The look she gave the commander made him flinch. He'd seen fear before, countless times, on the faces of the inhabitants of worlds he overthrew. But this was different—someone was afraid in his presence, but not afraid of _him_. She seemed to be almost pleading to him like a child needing comfort from a parent.

He stared at her in silence for a moment. "We'll find a way out," he said. "I've been in worse situations than this. I won't let either of you meet your end down here."

His own words echoed uncomfortably in his mind as the girl watched him. Had he said the wrong thing? He was totally at a loss as to what to do in this situation, and he almost wished Blynn was awake just so he'd have more of a cue.

Finally, Terra smiled a little. "I think you _are_ a nice person," she said.

"I'm not," Hyren was quick to say, folding his arms over his chest as his antennae lowered in agitation. "Why are the two of you so insistent on making friends with me? I'm the reason you're down here, and you know very well where you and your Neopet are going after this."

The girl's smile faded and she glanced aside for a moment before returning her gaze to him. "Because you actually _talk_ to us. Most other people think we're weird. We're… kinda misfits."

One of Hyren's antennae perked up. "Really? You don't seem so weird to me—I mean, I think everyone on this blasted planet is weird," he recovered, "but you and Blynn are no less weird than the rest of them." This wasn't entirely true. They defied everything about his past interactions with people, and in a strangely good way.

Terra shrugged. "Nah… we don't really fit in. Blynn doesn't battle, we don't try to get rich or have fancy things, we don't enter any contests or stuff like that. We just like exploring and learning." She paused. "Nobody really understands us."

Hyren could relate. None of his troops had the ability to carry out a conversation. The other commanders were constantly infighting, vying for Sloth's favor. Not even robot Petpets did more than acknowledge him. He didn't really have anybody he felt safe voicing his thoughts and feelings to.

Terra shot a look at the sleeping Zafara before smiling at Hyren bittersweetly. "I think we annoy most people," she said.

The commander chuckled. "The day Blynn stops being annoying will be the day Sloth wears a pink tutu."

Terra blushed, an embarrassed grin spreading up her face. "She was like that when I created her," she said. "I can't really control her." A sudden look of worry fell over the girl's expression. "What about me? Am _I_ annoying?"

The Grundo had to think about how to answer this one. At first she had aggravated him with her constant doting and refusing to think of him as an enemy. But now he couldn't really bring himself to think of her this way, much less voice such a thing. And by this point he just wanted her to get to sleep, otherwise she'd be too tired to move in the morning.

"Not so much," he replied diplomatically. "Thank you… for helping me with my leg. It's feeling much better now." He smiled, trying to show the sincerity he knew she was looking for.

"Oh… yeah, no problem." Her anxiety visibly faded and she offered him a small smile in return.

Now to get her to fall asleep. Once again, something he'd never had to deal with before. Hyren racked his memory trying to figure out what seemed to relax her, and once again remembered how enthralled she was with his interpreting the tale the murals told. He shifted his weight. "You said you liked learning, right?"

"Uh-huh," she said.

"Do you like stories?"

She paused, and then nodded. "Yeah… why? Do you have any?"

Hyren smirked. She'd taken the bait. "I've been around this great big galaxy of ours more times than I can count, missy. I could tell you stories every day for a thousand years and still have more to tell." There was a reason his exploits were legendary, after all.

Terra's eyes brightened, and she yawned. "Can I hear them?"

"Sure, why not. It's not like I'm doing much else at the moment," Hyren said with a sarcastic shrug. He knew he had to be careful to not act too friendly toward the two. The last thing he wanted was for them to get more attached to him than they already were beginning to be. It would just be all the more devastating when he gave them over to Sloth.

The commander stretched, folding his hands behind his head and staring up into the darkness as though it contained visions of his past. "Let's see… I'll tell you about the time we found a world of Alien Aishas who carved these magnificent sculptures from glass. They didn't really look like much, but when the Aishas set the sculptures out in the wind, the glass would resonate and produce ethereal tones. They'd set up entire symphonies that would carry for miles on the breeze…"

As he continued describing the sights he'd seen on that planet, Terra's eyelids drooped. The girl lay back down and snuggled into her sleeping bag, closing her eyes, her breathing slowing.

He'd have to remember to tell her more some other time, Hyren decided as he shut the lantern window again and reclined on his rocky cushion. But he wouldn't say anything about the invasions. The goal was to relax her, after all.

And yet he found himself feeling rather buoyant as well. He enjoyed telling her stories. Something inside of him didn't want to stop. What was wrong with him? Where was that old commander who didn't need anybody but himself?

Thoughts stormed around his head ceaselessly. It was a good thing he didn't need to sleep that night, because he never would have been able to.


	6. Chapter 6

"All right, let's go." Hyren leaned over Blynn, shaking her shoulder to wake her.

"Huwhuh…" the Zafara slurred, rolling over lazily. Her eyes blinked open and focused on the Mutant Grundo hovering over her, and she looked startled for a moment before sitting up suddenly, making Hyren have to jerk back before they collided. "Oh, hey! Is it morning already? Wow, I slept like a Pet Rock!"

She jumped out of her sleeping bag and stretched her arms high above her head, letting out a huge yawn before looking over at her still-sleeping owner mischievously. Tensing her hind legs, Blynn leaped onto Terra's stomach and stuck her nose in the girl's face. "Wake up and smell the Streaky Bacon!"

Terra's eyes flew open and she let out a shout of surprise that dissolved into laughter, hugging her Zafara close with one arm and feeling around for her glasses with the other. "Wow, it's dark—oh yeah…" she said in realisation, glancing around at the gloom that hadn't changed a bit since she'd drifted off. Hyren had opened up the lantern again before waking Blynn, but other than that, the shadows around them persisted, the air as still and silent as ever.

A look of fear passed over Terra's face before she forced a smile onto it. "Okay. Let's find a way out of here."

The commander nodded. "Right. You two stay here and eat breakfast," he said as he walked to the wall to flip the lever again, "and I'll start looking for an exit."

"But what about your leg?" Terra asked.

He looked over his shoulder as the room began to fill with light again, revealing its immensity and grandeur. "It's just fine," he said. "That potion worked wonders, it was smart of you to bring it."

Terra was rolling her sleeping bag tightly and pulling on the straps with all her might. She smiled at the compliment and ducked her head. "Thanks."

In reality, it still hurt a little when he walked, but he wasn't about to waste time with that. He'd left the bandage on under his armour for extra support, but he didn't want to have to deal with further doting from her. It confused him more than agitated him.

"Okay, what do we have in the way of breakfast stuff?" Blynn asked as Hyren turned to inspect the room.

His first order of business was to begin searching the perimeter, starting at the doors. They were tightly shut and wouldn't budge in either direction, so he decided to see what would happen if he tried ramming one of them with his thick shoulder. As he made contact with a throaty shout, he felt the door shift slightly—but also heard the clattering crumble of rock behind it, like pebbles had become dislodged and trickled down a pile of larger debris. The other side, he realised, was most likely caved in. That was when a bit of fear began to set in for him, too. What if this room didn't have any other exits?

But he wasn't about to give up that easily. He moved swiftly to one side of the doorway and began crouching along the walls, feeling them for any sort of weak point or possibly even hidden passages, as he knew there were wont to be in palaces. Many times this involved first digging through mounds of treasure that had accumulated, which was slow going. This wealth was too cumbersome to think of taking with him.

"Hey, need help?" A certain red Zafara slid down a pile of gold coins next to him and began to dig.

"That would be lovely," Hyren said. He looked around and noticed Terra had also finished her breakfast and was attempting to excavate the opposite wall. The Grundo turned back to his work, using one immense hand to scoop out a long trough in the mound of currency. "Terra says you annoy people."

"They just don't understand my genius," Blynn said, buffing her paw on her chest fur for a moment before getting down on all fours and burrowing frenetically, coins flying past her tail. When she came back up, she had two round, flat emeralds perched on her face like thick green goggles. "The way I see it, there are only two types of people in this world: circles and triangles."

Hyren narrowed his eyes at her. "Which one are you?"

"I'm a parallelogram." She went back to digging.

There was a sudden discordant crash of metal against metal and a shrill squeak from behind them, and the two Neopets whipped around. Terra had shrunk against a pillar and was staring wide-eyed at a toppled-over statue of a stern Elephante. Coins were still shifting where it had fallen.

"Oops," she whispered, not daring to move.

Hyren smacked his face with his hand. "I can't leave you alone for five minutes. Blynn, keep digging," he said as he made his way across the room. "I'll help Terra out. You're not hurt, are you?" he asked as he reached her.

She shook her head. "Nuh-uh. I saw it was falling and moved…"

Gripping the statue, Hyren summoned his mutant strength and hefted it aside, placing it safely on the floor. He turned back to see Terra's eyes bulge.

"You're really strong," she said.

The commander snickered. "This physique isn't just for show, you know."

She laughed. "Okay, don't get _too_ full of yourself. C'mon, let's dig."

The girl knelt down next to the wall with Hyren beside her, his attention divided between excavating and making sure nothing else threatened to fall on her. Terra wasn't nearly as fast a digger as Blynn, but Hyren more than made up the difference.

"Hey guys!" The Zafara's voice cut through the room, making Hyren wince, his antennae twitching in annoyance. "I think I found something!"

Her words echoed unusually, and the Grundo looked up to see that she had, for some reason, abandoned her wall-searching and was standing behind the throne on the other side of the hall. "What are you doing?" Hyren asked, standing up. "You're supposed to be excavating the perimeter."

"I got bored," Blynn said, scrambling up the tall back of the throne. "It looked more interesting over here. Come and see!"

"Fine..." The commander motioned for Terra to follow him down the aisle and onto the dais. "Okay, what did you discover?"

In response, the Zafara hopped back down and tackled the throne from behind with all her might. In spite of her light weight, it flinched, and Hyren's eyes widened.

He positioned himself behind the chair, rubbing his hands together before placing them flat on the backrest. "Stand back," he said. Once the Neopet and owner were out of the way, Hyren threw himself forward, letting out a shout as marble ground against rock. The throne slid away to reveal a square opening in the dais, with steep steps leading downward into darkness.

Hyren's heavy brow furrowed, and he looked back at the little Zafara. "How did you think to check the throne?"

Blynn tilted her head at him and grinned. "Intuition."

The commander regarded her suspiciously. "'Intuition', huh?"

"Look, I can't really explain it," the Zafara replied, scratching the back of her head. "I just get ideas sometimes. And they work. I don't think about it much."

Terra stared down into the darkness as though it might engulf her, and Hyren noticed stray wisps of her hair flutter. "Do you feel that?" he asked her.

She looked over at him. "What?"

"A breeze," he said. "That means this route leads to an exit."

"But it goes down," Terra said, backing away from the hole.

"Be that as it may," Hyren said, "if there's air circulation in a passage, it means it's open to the outside somewhere. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not stick around here any longer. Let's get back under the sky again."

She nodded eagerly. "Come on, Blynn, let's grab our gear and get out of here."

"Right! I call lantern duty!" Blynn said.

"Sometimes I think you want lantern duty just so you can pester that Fire Mote," Terra said.

Hyren, meanwhile, leaned against the throne and watched them, his arms folded. "All right," he said once they had returned. "I'm going first, to make sure it's safe." He was glad the opening was just barely large enough for his wide shoulders to squeeze through. "Lantern?"

Blynn handed it to him with a bit of reluctance and Hyren began to lower himself down the stairs backward, half-climbing. He paused while his head was still above the floor, to look around one last time at the hidden opulence they had stumbled upon. It would go on existing after they left, unaware that its centuries-silent halls had once again been briefly graced with life.

"Be careful," Terra said.

He glanced up at her. "Of course."

The stairway turned out to, thankfully, not descend very far at all before hitting bottom. A cramped, rough-hewn passageway stretched into the darkness beyond, twisting and winding into oblivion. Hyren was all too anxious to get back out into the sun again, and he shook himself out a bit, stretching his neck. He wasn't claustrophobic, but being down here for too long could start to mess with anyone's mind. The Grundo supposed one could make the argument that being in a spaceship was similarly stifling, but sailing freely through the vastness of the cosmos was much different than being restricted under the earth.

He set the lantern on the ground, opening up both its windows. "All right," he called up to the two youngsters looking down at him. "Come on down. Terra first, then Blynn." He reached up his arms. "I'll catch you if you fall."

Terra took in a deep breath and then slowly, deliberately began to make her way down the steps, periodically looking over her shoulder at Hyren.

"Not much of a climber, are you?" he asked.

"I don't like heights," Terra said.

"For an adventurer, you certainly are afraid of a lot of things," Hyren said.

Terra sighed. "Oh, gimme a break, I'm not an expert."

She was still only halfway down, and he was growing impatient, so he slid his hands under her arms and lifted her away from the staircase, depositing her on the ground.

He almost expected her to get flustered with him, but instead she simply looked up at him with relief. "Thanks," she said.

"Yeah," he said.

She paused and put a hand on her arm. "I—I really wasn't thinking mainly about how you could help me and Blynn get out of here when we saved you," she said. "Mostly, I just wanted to help you. I promise."

Hyren looked at her for a long moment. Although they had only known each other for a day, he had begun to realize how sensitive she was, how much she truly cared about others. It was a sort of idealism that just wasn't a priority in the Virtupets forces, and thus very few Neopets there ever displayed it. But she seemed to need validation, and something about her earnest tone made him want to give it to her.

He smiled. "Yeah, I figured by now," he said. "I'm sorry I accused you of having ulterior motives." He stuck out a hand. "Truce?"

Terra smiled and took his hand, giving it a warm squeeze. "Thank you," she said.

Remembering what they were bound for made Hyren have to really work to keep the smile on his face.

Meanwhile, Blynn had swung herself over the edge and begun to scuttle down. She did look to be a far more apt climber than her ungraceful companion, so Hyren simply watched.

Suddenly, the edge of one of the steps she was standing on cracked and gave way, and she let out a shriek. Hyren moved to catch her, but he was a hair too late and she landed on her tail with a yelp.

"Blynn!" Terra rushed over to her pet, picking her up and cradling her. "Are you okay? Hold on, I'll get you that Healing Potion…"

"I'm fine," the Zafara said, squirming out of her owner's arms and onto the ground. "Now let's get—ow… ow… ow…" She shifted uncomfortably with every halting step she tried to take.

"No, you're _not_ fine," Terra said, un-shouldering her pack and digging through it. "What happened? Is it your leg?"

"No… I think I landed on my tail wrong," Blynn said, looking back at it with regret as it trailed stiffly behind her.

"And that makes walking difficult, because you use it to balance," Hyren said.

She looked up at him. "Right."

"Here." Terra handed her the potion. "Drink some of this."

Blynn took a swig from the bottle and gave it back, wiping the back of her paw across her muzzle before taking a tentative step forward. "Oof." She cringed, sinking to her forepaws and knees. "Might take a while to kick in… but we can keep going!" she insisted, gripping the straps of her pack tightly.

"Well, we're certainly not slowing down for you," Hyren snorted. He reached down and picked her up around her middle, taking her wrists and wrapping her arms around his thick neck.

"But I can walk! Really!" Blynn protested.

Terra looked up at her wearily. "Just do as he says, please." There was a shortness in her tone not present before.

The Zafara looked down at her owner for a moment and then nodded, clasping her forepaws around the collar of Hyren's chestplate. "Okay," she said.

The Mutant Grundo picked up the lantern and closed one window, holding it out to the darkness beyond. The tunnel was dry and cold and smelled like stale earth, but the air was fresh, there was no mistaking it. "Thankfully there's only one path," he said, beginning to lead Terra forward. "Otherwise there's no telling how long it might take to find a way out." The ceiling of the tunnel was so low, he had to duck to fit in it.

"Uh-huh," came the weak reply from behind him.

Hyren realised that probably wasn't the best thing to have said. He needed make sure she didn't have a panic attack. "Did I ever tell you," he said, "about the planet of giant Blobaguses I stumbled upon during one of my missions?"

"What's a Blobagus?" Blynn asked.

"Creatures foreign to Neopia," Hyren said, "although I wouldn't be surprised if someday the Space Station imports them to sell as Petpets. They're like green, glowing trails of goo, and they usually don't grow that large, but these had to be at least two hundred feet long! They roam the surface of their stormy planet, feeding on the gases that vent from cracks in the crust."

He continued to regale them as they made their way through the tunnel, trying to distract them from the fact that the ground was steadily sloping downward and the path was becoming slowly narrower. This had to be an escape route, he reassured himself. It was far too deliberate, and couldn't dead-end, based on the presence of air currents. He would just have to trust that the builders of this labyrinth knew what they were doing.


	7. Chapter 7

"So that's when the Space Fungus started swarming our ship!" They had to have been walking for at least an hour, now, but Hyren was nowhere near running out of stories. The tunnel was now so narrow that Hyren barely fit in it, and if it got any narrower he was going to have to turn to one side. "I turned to the Navibot helmsman and—" He stopped short, drawing in an uncertain breath.

"What is it?" Terra asked from behind him.

Just ahead, the tunnel ceiling abruptly dipped, reducing its navigable area to a mere crawlspace a few feet high. It looked just large enough for Hyren to squeeze through. "Well…" He shuffled awkwardly aside.

The look she gave him was one of sheer desperation, and the Grundo did not offer her an immediate response. "Blynn, you go first," he said, easing the Zafara off of his back. "Carry the lantern with you. I'm sure we're nearly to the end." Well, that was a lie, he wasn't sure of anything. For all he knew, the crawlspace could have caved in so none of them would fit. But considering there was still a draft, he held out hope.

"Right." Blynn took the lantern from him and started toward the hole, dropping to all fours and holding the lantern ahead of her with one forepaw.

"You could have told me your tail was feeling better," Hyren said. "Would have been a load off of my back."

"You didn't ask," came the reply from within the crawlspace, the firelight slowly receding. "Besides, it was a fun ride."

Hyren looked down at Blynn's owner. "Okay. Your turn," he said, urging her ahead of himself.

Terra froze, staring at the entrance for a few awkward moments before looking back over her shoulder at him. "I… I can't. I'm really scared, I can't do it…" She seemed on the verge of crying.

He wanted to point out to her that she couldn't exactly go back, but by now he realised she responded better to a softer tactic. Crouching down, he placed a hand on her thin shoulder and looked into her eyes, trying to remember every snatch of confidence-building bunk he'd ever heard. "I believe you can," he said. "You're a strong person, Terra. You can do anything you set your mind on. You don't have to let your fears control you." Hopefully she would buy that.

"But… but what if something goes wrong?" she asked, chin trembling.

He tilted his head, giving her a hopeful smile. "I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't know you were going to be safe." Well, relatively safe. "Do you trust me?"

She regarded him silently, then put a hand on his arm and nodded. "Yes."

Hyren gave her shoulder a light squeeze. "Then go show your fears you're not to be messed with."

The girl grinned. "I will." He let her go. Terra turned to face the hole again, taking a few deep breaths before crouching down and shuffling in.

"I'm right behind you," Hyren said, dropping to his knees and elbows and huddling to get all of his bulk inside. His helmet and back armour bumped against the ceiling, and he was beginning to be seriously annoyed at whoever thought this was a suitable secret passage. "Well, at least this place wasn't inhabited entirely by a kingdom of Jubjubs," he said. "Then we'd really have problems."

Terra laughed feebly in response.

"I'm out the other side!" Blynn said.

Hyren gave a sigh of relief. "How big is it?" he asked, continuing to inch his way forward.

"Bigger than where we came in," she said. "It looks like a hallway. Not a tunnel. There's um, tile and stuff."

"Sounds like we may have come out into a main area of the fortress complex," Hyren said. Terra quickly covered the rest of the distance to the end. "From here it should—" A jolt halted the commander's progress and he realised he was stuck. Grunting, he pushed with his shoulders, trying to find the point of pressure. One of his pauldrons was being blocked by an outcrop of rock.

"Are you okay?" Terra asked, bending down with the lantern to peer back into the crawlspace.

"Yeah. I'll be there in a second." With an irritated groan, Hyren bared his teeth and shoved hard. The offending rock snapped off, but he heard a sickening crack and bits of stone began crumbling from the wall and ceiling.

Hyren bit his tongue and cursed himself silently for his inability to learn that every time he acted without forethought, something would inevitably collapse on him. He tried to quicken his pace, but the cramped quarters made that difficult, and the rocks wouldn't stop falling around him. In fact, they were getting bigger.

"Hyren!" Amidst the dust, a shape dove toward him.

"Go back!" he coughed.

A pair of small hands gripped his own hand and wrist, and pulled. Using the extra leverage, he pushed himself away from the collapsing stone and out into the open. He lay sprawled on the tile floor for a moment, his chest heaving as he heard the entire passage give way behind him.

Hyren looked over at Terra, who was sitting up and dusting herself off, coughing sporadically. "Well… that's twice you've saved my life now," the Grundo said, rising to his feet and offering her a hand.

She took it and staggered to her own feet. "You don't owe me anything," she said.

"Don't worry, I'm not that pedantic," he replied. "You risked your life to save me. You could have been caught in that cave-in, too."

She swallowed hard and nodded. "I… I know. But I couldn't leave you there."

The commander blinked. "I don't know whether you're incredibly brave or incredibly stupid," he said. "Either way, I can see why exploring is your thing."

"Yeah, too bad we're gonna be stuck with Sloth after this," Blynn said, glaring up at the mutant with a frown. "Thanks a lot."

"Never mind that," Hyren replied. "Let's keep going."

"And which way do you suggest we go, o fearless leader?" the Zafara asked.

The tunnel had come out on the wall of a long, straight hallway, the floor of which was lined with tile and the walls carved in swirling decorative motifs. The corridor extended into darkness on either side of them.

"Oh, I know!" Terra said before Hyren could respond. "The air was blowing in from here, wasn't it? So…" She held up the lantern and opened a second window, then positioned the lamp so the openings aligned with the direction the hallway ran. "All we have to do is watch the flames."

Hyren peered over her shoulder. The Fire Mote glared back at him, most likely irritated at having to provide them light for so long. Its flames were being pushed toward the left lantern window.

"So we need to go right." Terra said, pointing into the shadows, then looked up at Hyren. "Right?"

He folded his arms over his chest and nodded. "That was pretty clever, I have to admit."

She grinned. "Thanks."

"I'm hungry," Blynn said, plopping onto the floor. "Can we stop for lunch?"

Terra's smile faded. "We need to keep going," she said. "I'm really tired of being down here."

"But it's important to keep up your energy," Hyren said. "Otherwise I'd have to carry you _both_ out. We'll eat quickly, I promise," he added, trying to appease a pouting Terra.

"Okay," she said quietly, sitting down next to her Neopet and placing the lantern in front of them.

Lunch was sandwiches and fruit. Hyren let them eat their fill, reasoning that they had to be close to an exit by this point, and food was always in abundance in Neopia, especially for the resourceful. Besides, making them ration their provisions would most likely scare Terra again. Hyren felt like dealing with someone this skittish was like trying to get out of a room full of malfunctioning Pincerons: a very delicate procedure that he had to work to find the patience for.

He, himself, took no food. "I can go without eating far longer than you can," he explained to Terra when she tried to offer him a sandwich. "I'll be fine." He did, however, concede to a small sip of water from her canteen.

Terra finished eating before Blynn, and the human girl got up and began puttering around the hallway, carefully staying within the circumference of the lantern light and under Hyren's watchful eye. "There's a door here," she said, feeling the wall nearby.

She placed her hand on a tall slab of wood, deeply carved with images of various Neopets in battling poses. The girl pulled its rusted handle and it creaked aside, sending dust sifting out of the doorway where it had lain undisturbed for centuries. Hyren grabbed the lantern and jumped up, not wanting her to meet with any nasty surprises on the other side.

"Hey, wait for me!" Blynn said, stuffing the rest of her sandwich in her mouth.

Hovering over Terra as she peeked in, Hyren held up the lantern and let it cast its orange glow into the area beyond while Blynn stuck her head between them. Dust Motes skittered into the dark corners of a relatively small room that was not nearly as lavishly decorated as the great hall. What made all three of them gasp, however, was what the room held: armour and weapons of every make and function.

While some pieces were arranged on racks and shelves, others had been scattered around the room in disarray, or tossed carelessly into urns. All of them were covered in cobwebs. Cobwebs were good, Hyren thought. It meant the three were close enough to the surface that they had reached areas where Spyders and other Petpets lived.

"Looks like we found the armoury," Terra said. "Neat."

"Good fortunes, indeed," Hyren muttered, his tone taking on a bit of a fierce and greedy edge as he pulled the door further open and brushed past the owner and Neopet. "Perhaps there's something still useable in here." His blaster only had so much power left, and while he was well-trained in unarmed combat and could usually win fights just by throwing his own bulk around, extra equipment wouldn't hurt.

Besides, this stupid hole owed him something for all the trouble it had put him through. He hadn't seized the opportunity to filch some of the treasure in the throne room, because in their situation, mere riches were just an impediment. Anything he could salvage in here would be much more useful.

His two young companions wasted no time in exploring the room. "Look, look!" Blynn said with a laugh. Hyren glanced over to see her trying on an ornate helmet that looked like it was crafted for a Lupe. "This is _awesome!_ " she said as the ill-fitting headgear fell over her eyes.

"Who are you this time?" Terra asked, inspecting a heavy spear.

"Corporal Blynn of the 679th Division!" The Zafara picked up a long sword from the floor, attempting to draw it out of its scabbard. "Onward… nngh… troops!" she ordered while struggling with the hilt. "Today, we march for—" With a loud snap, the hilt came loose in her hand. What was left of the blade at the base was mere jagged rust. "Blehhh." She made a face and tossed the hilt away. "Gross."

"All of these weapons are corroded," Hyren grumbled, sifting through them. He pulled cankered scimitars from their sheaths and watched crumbling spear heads fall from their hafts as soon as he touched them. "Although I guess I'd rather have air and rust down here than no air at all, but still…"

"What's that?" Terra pointed to the far corner.

Hyren's eyes followed her finger to a stack of tall urns matted with Spyderwebs and detritus, looking like they'd been there for even longer than the rest of the cache. One of them was cracked down the side, and through a tiny hole shone the unmistakeable glint of untarnished metal.

His breath caught in his throat. "Whoa," he gasped, dropping his current armload of scrap metal to stride across the tile floor. Lifting another urn out of the way where it had fallen on top of his target, he removed the lid, and his eyes widened.

"What is it, what did you find?" Terra asked from behind him.

"You're never going to believe this…" he said. A grin spread up his face as he lifted his discovery from its hiding place and turned to present it to the girls. Cradled in his arms were a load of weapons that looked as unspoiled as the day they were forged. The blades were not so much as dulled or nicked, like they had never even seen battle.

"They… they aren't rusted," Blynn said as Hyren knelt down and spread them on the floor along with their sheaths.

He picked up a long, straight sword and turned it over, inspecting it closely. It was the perfect size and weight for a larger, heftier species of pet such as a Grarrl or a Skeith—or himself. "And the workmanship is incredible…" he said. Detail on the blade caught his eye, and he angled it to catch the lantern light better. His jaw dropped. "Faerie runes. These were forged by the Faeries."


	8. Chapter 8

Terra and Blynn knelt on the other side of the spread, gaping at the sword. "Are you serious?" Terra asked.

Hyren nodded. "No wonder they're impervious to corrosion. And I'm guessing the blades don't dull, either." He gave it a few test swings, relishing the singing of metal through air mingled with a faint hum of magic. "Amazing. I've never seen one of these in the flesh before."

"Then how do you know about 'em?" Blynn asked. "Aren't you from space? Why do you know so much about Neopia?"

The commander paused after a stroke to look down at her. "Just because I've never been here, doesn't mean I'm ignorant about this world," he said. "Sloth has had scouts and spies combing this planet since far before his first takeover attempt. And I make a point of never landing somewhere unless I've done my research first."

He put the sword back in its sheath, the blade making a satisfying sound against the hardened leather. He'd found his compensation. "That being said," he continued, standing up and buckling the scabbard around his waist, "there are still a lot of things about Neopia that I _don't_ know. Like what that blue-and-yellow fruit is that grows at the oasis, the one we just had for lunch." He'd already made good and sure by now that it wasn't poisonous, of course, but he was curious if it was known to the rest of the Lost Desert. That region had not been well-covered in the dossiers, unsurprising considering how long it had been isolated from the rest of Neopia.

"That's a Tchea," Blynn replied absently, still scanning the weapons.

"Ah, okay," Hyren said. He began to motion to them with one hand to head back out, the other authoritatively gripping the hilt of his newfound prize.

"I want one," Terra said, staring down at the blades.

The Grundo blinked. "What? You're not a fighter."

She looked up at him. "You could teach me. Please? I've always wanted to learn to use a sword."

"I want one too!" Blynn insisted, jumping up.

A panicked grimace flew over Hyren's face, and he turned to hover over the weapons protectively. "You're not a battling pet!"

"How come you get one and we don't?!" The Zafara fisted her paws and jutted out her lower jaw, stretching herself up to stare in his face with narrowed eyes. "That's not fair!"

"Because I know how to _use one_ and you don't!" he countered.

"So?! What does that have to do with it?!" she asked. "I'm taking one." She plunged a paw toward one of the swords.

"No!" Hyren grabbed her wrist. The glare she shot up at him was venomous.

"Stop!" Terra thrust herself between them, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. She gave Blynn a stern look and the Zafara wilted, her gaze dropping.

The owner then looked up at Hyren. His antennae drooped slightly. "Why can't we have weapons?" she asked him quietly. "What if Blynn and I need to defend ourselves? We'll be really good with them, we promise. We just need you to teach us how to use them correctly."

" _I'll_ defend you," Hyren said, jabbing a thumb onto his chestplate. "Do you really think me that incompetent?"

"No, no, that's not it," Terra said, shaking her head. "I know you can protect us. But… it would be nice to have something just in case… I mean… what if _you_ needed protecting?"

Hyren wrinkled his noseless face. "Me? Need protecting? Preposterous. I'm a better fighter than anything on this planet, I'd wager."

Terra lowered her eyelids. "Better than cave-ins?"

Heat rose to his cheeks, and he reached up and scratched the back of his neck. "Cave-ins can't be fought with swords."

The girl sighed. "We wouldn't keep them forever," she said. "I mean… I know where you're taking us." Her head drooped and she rubbed her arm. "We'd just use them until we got somewhere safe. I've never gotten to wield a sword before. It would be nice to, just for a little while."

The commander grimaced. He supposed he did owe them a small something considering their destination. He might as well let them have a little bit of fun now. "Okay," he said, his great shoulders sagging. "Okay. One weapon each. And I get to pick them," he added as Blynn moved for the sword again. "At least let the expert judge which one is right for your size and personality."

Kneeling on the floor again, Hyren placed his hands on his knees and surveyed each of the weapons thoughtfully, rubbing his chin and gently tugging on one antenna from time to time. This was another new and interesting experience for him. His mind-controlled troops were all issued identical standard armament—he'd never had to select custom weaponry for anyone before. Thankfully, there was a wide range to choose from, and if he was an expert at anything, it was weapons.

Finally, he picked up a shortsword and presented it to Terra like the royal treasure he was sure it was. "I think this one should do nicely for you, if you're so keen on learning swordplay," he said. It was a beautiful weapon, probably crafted for a mid-size pet like a Lupe or a Blumaroo, with intricate patterns on the crossguard and a sturdy leather grip. It would have made a fine complement to his own claymore.

Which made Hyren more than a little hurt when she regarded the blade with ill-disguised disappointment. She tried to force a smile up her face as she took it from him, and held the scabbard in both hands with a resigned sigh. "Thanks…" she said.

He frowned. "What?"

"Well…" The girl glanced up at his blade before looking back to hers. "Your sword is bigger."

Hyren gave her an incredulous stare and then chuckled, having to restrain himself from outright laughter. She really did have no experience with weaponry. He settled back on his heels with an amused smirk. "Fine, then. Try out this one," he said, handing her one of the larger swords, "and let's see you do a few practice swings with it."

Terra placed the shortsword aside and eagerly accepted the second offering, her eyes bulging as she realised its full weight and struggled just to lift it into her unlearned approximation of a ready position. "Uhm…"

The commander watched in silence as she somewhat hesitantly began a clumsy swing, her scrawny arms working hard just to raise the blade. Letting it fall was easier, but she botched the follow-through horribly and the tip clanged on the floor, causing her to cringe. Puffing out her cheeks, she attempted to lift the sword again, but her labors only lasted for a few seconds before she slumped with a groan and handed the hilt back to the Grundo.

He took it and laid the sword back in its place like a doting gardener planting a prized flower. "Now you see why I gave you a shortsword," he said. "The weapon has to fit the warrior. There's no sense in decking yourself out with the biggest, flashiest weapons if you can't even use them." He looked up at her, trying to catch her eyes to impress upon her the importance of what he was trying to tell her. If she really wanted to learn to fight, she was going to have to learn to listen as well. "The only way a weapon is ever really effective is when it's wielded by the right person."

Part of him couldn't really believe he was doing this. Why was he going to hand over to Sloth prisoners who'd been given combat training? Because teaching them was fun, he had to admit to himself. He was enjoying their company for reasons he still couldn't really quantify. Besides, there was no way two kids would ever get past hordes of Virtupets troops. If they caused any trouble, Hyren could just pretend like they'd already known how to fight when he caught them. Although the thought of them causing trouble made him smile. He hoped that wasn't treasonous.

Drawing a long sigh, Terra picked up the shorter blade again, pulling it out of its sheath. She turned it over in her hand, twisting and bouncing her arm to gauge its weight. A look of satisfaction grew in her eyes, and she buckled the belt over her shirt and showed it off proudly to Blynn. Hyren was quite pleased, himself, that his judgement was sound. The blade fit her well.

"My turn, what about me?!" Blynn's voice cut into Hyren's thoughts.

"For you… I'm thinking _this_." The commander reached into the assortment of weapons and pulled out an elegantly crafted slingshot, complete with its own holster and a matching belt.

"That's not a sword," the Zafara said.

"You never specifically asked for a sword," Hyren said, wagging his finger. "I've seen how you fight. You're quick and tricky, and prefer to keep your distance from your opponents. I think you'd do better with a ranged weapon like this."

"Yeah, I think he's right!" Terra said, glancing over at Hyren with a shy smile that spoke of her yearning for approval. "That seems perfect for you!"

The Grundo nodded. "Besides, it makes you a good counterpart to Terra's and my melee fighting."

Blynn looked the slingshot over, tugging on the leather pocket to test out the elasticity of the attached rubber strips. "I don't get what's so special about it," she said. "You and Terra get cool magic swords. I could make something like this myself."

"Look closer—it's got Faerie runes on it as well," Hyren said. "I think the fact that it's survived in here for centuries with no deterioration is testament to its being enchanted. It probably possesses other properties that we have yet to discover."

"Huh… I guess that's pretty cool," she said, putting the weapon in its holster and fastening it around her waist. "What's this pouch on the other side of the belt for?"

"Storing projectiles," Hyren said. "Basically anything small and round, like pebbles or acorns."

"Or codestones…" Blynn scratched her furry chin in thought.

"Codestones aren't small!" Terra said, looking slightly alarmed.

"I bet I could still use 'em with this thing, though!" the Zafara said.

Hyren let them debate the acceptability of various random objects as projectiles, while he searched the room further and found a large piece of cloth and a length of rope. He rolled the remaining weapons into the cloth and tucked the ends tightly, and then used the rope to tie the bundle across his back. These magical artefacts would fetch an incredible price on the intergalactic market, and it was an opportunity he simply couldn't pass up. He wagered they were possibly worth more than everything in that throne room combined.

He turned back to the two youngsters, placing his hands on his hips. "Well, unless you have any other business here, I think we should pack up and move on."

"Okay, what about slushies, can I shoot slushies?" Blynn was saying.

"Why in the world would you want to shoot _slushies?!_ " Terra asked. She looked up at Hyren with an exasperated smile. "Yeah. Let's go."

Moral dilemmas didn't happen for Hyren often. It wasn't something he thought about much. He just followed orders, went with his gut feeling, and resolved to discard any and all regrets. Right now, though, he was currently facing a dilemma that was eating him up inside. There was a pure sincerity about his companions that he could not deny he was enjoying. Never had orders conflicted with gut feeling like this, and never did he worry so much about regrets.


	9. Chapter 9

They trekked through the vast subterranean palace for hours without stopping, following the flickering flames of the little Fire Mote. At times Hyren entertained his prisoners with more stories of his interstellar exploits, but for the most part very little conversation passed between them. Hyren supposed this was due not only to their drive to get out, but to the interest his two companions had in the architecture. They passed through vaulted halls covered in murals depicting lavish scenes of celebration, rooms where decaying furniture sat under a thick draping of cobwebs, and corridors whose walls were inlaid with precious metals in the shape of maps of the night sky.

As their march wore on, Terra appeared less and less interested in their surroundings, sometimes merely glancing at something of interest before pressing onward, and brushing off Blynn's attempts to call items to her attention. The girl's movements became increasingly stilted and jittery, and Hyren caught her frequently looking upward, almost as if she expected to see a sky there but found only oppressive rock.

"Let's make camp here for the night," Hyren said, setting down his bundle of weapons in a room with a few scattered tables and benches pushed against the walls. It had probably once been a dining area for palace staff, he inferred by the presence of toppled storage urns, scattered ceramic dishes, and the large, open-air fireplace on one wall. "Oh, how nice," he grunted. "They left us enough fuel for a fire." He pointed to the meager stack of chopped wood next to the stone hearth.

Blynn dropped her pack and set the lantern on the edge of the fireplace. "Don't worry, little guy, you'll have some fun soon! Terra, help me out, here!"

"No," Terra said. "Let's keep going. Please." Her voice was shaky and on the verge of breaking.

"We've walked enough for the day," Hyren said, easing himself to the floor to massage his sore feet.

"We can camp as soon as we get outside," she said. "Please, please. I just…" She clasped her hands. "I just need to get out of here."

Hyren looked over at her, remembering their conversation the day they had met. He didn't like seeing her like this, but he couldn't compromise the reason they were traveling together in the first place. "You need to keep up your strength," he said," and walking all night without sleep won't cut it. I'm not really in a hurry to get you to Sloth, so I can afford to keep you healthy, and I mean to."

"You—you could carry me!" she said. "I can't spend another night in here, I just can't!"

Hyren's stomach twisted at the fear in her voice, but he tried his best to push the emotion down even though that just seemed to make him sicker. "I told you I would protect you," he said with a frown that he tried to make into a menacing scowl. "Do you distrust me that much?"

Terra bowed her head. "N… no… I trust you."

"Good." He nodded. "Now let's get some sleep. We'll reach the surface tomorrow." They were very close, he knew it. The faint whisper of air he had first detected under the throne room had steadily grown into a perceptible draft, cold and dry. He wouldn't be surprised if they'd start to see daylight around the next corner.

She mouthed a silent "okay" and slowly turned to aid her Neopet in lifting firewood. Blynn shot him a nasty glare over her shoulder, and Hyren looked away. He still felt ill.

The two girls built a stack of wood on the metal grating, and Blynn tilted the open lantern over it once they were done. "Come on out, little fella," she said.

The Fire Mote rolled lazily out onto the stack and immediately blazed up anew, nestling itself into the wood which began smoldering and smoking. Soon, a roaring fire was going, perfect for staving off the eternal cold of the cave-fortress.

"Where d'you suppose it goes?" Blynn asked, watching the smoke twist up the stone flue.

"Out on the side of the rocks somewhere," Hyren said, sitting with one knee raised and his elbow propped on it. "No sense in a fireplace without a proper ventilation system."

"How far do you think we've come?" Terra asked, setting up her bedroll nearby.

Hyren cast his gaze at the dark hallway they'd entered the room from. "Pretty far. I wonder which direction we've been traveling in." Too bad his helmet was nonfunctional, as the HUD included a compass. He figured the girls had a magnetic compass, but they'd taken so many twists and turns by now that just knowing where north was wouldn't be much help. "Maybe we'll end up back in the Lost Desert."

"Or on the other side of Neopia," Blynn said, staring into the fire. "I wonder what's there. Probably some super awesome things, stuff we can't even imagine!" She spread her arms wide as though doing so created a vision of far-off lands that only she could see.

Dinner was brief, partly because they'd had a large lunch and partly because Terra barely ate anything, even at Hyren's and Blynn's coaxing. To try to keep her mind off of her situation, after dinner Hyren began teaching her the very basics of swordplay. "We're going to start with some stances and types of attacks for now," he said, pacing around her with his arms folded.

"Okay," Terra replied, her brow furrowing as she pulled her blade from its sheath and held it in front of her.

"First off, you're holding it wrong."

"Oops."

"You're right-handed, aren't you? You want your right hand on top," the commander explained as she switched the position of her grip on the hilt. "Good, good. Remember that the dominant hand guides the strike while the other provides leverage. It's basic physics." She nodded. "Oh, and bend your knees, there you go. Keep your weight on the balls of your feet, be ready to move at any moment."

Once she had gotten the hang of the ready stance and some rudimentary blocks, parries, and strikes, Hyren began using his own sword to spar with her, very gently and very slowly, just so she'd get used to the rhythm of swordfighting and begin to understand the strategy involved. As this ponderous kind of practice was a no-brainer for him, he took the time to notice Blynn going around the room picking up small potsherds and storing them in her belt pouch, and then shooting them at a spot on the wall she'd carved a small X into. She was a disconcertingly good shot.

A sudden impact on his forearm bracer brought him back to the task at hand, and he looked back at Terra to see her clutching her sword close. "Oh no! I'm so sorry, did I hurt you?" she asked, chewing her lower lip. "I think I got carried away…"

"What? No," Hyren said with a laugh, inspecting the bracer. There was a new nick in it, but she didn't have enough strength to actually injure him. "I'm fine. I should have been paying attention—you saw the opportunity while my guard was down."

She stowed her blade absently and nodded, not looking fully convinced. Her eyes wandered down to his foot. "Is your ankle okay?"

He glanced at it. He'd forgotten it was even injured. "Yes, it's all better now. I heal fast. Don't worry about it."

"Okay… good." Terra seemed to hesitate a moment before taking a deep breath. "You know… even after everything we've been through, even though I know where we're going after this… I'm glad we met you."

Hyren stared at her incredulously. He no longer had the desire to tell her off, even though he knew she still harbored a vain hope in her heart that he would let them go. He wasn't sure what to say, but before he could stop it, the truth came to the surface. "I'm glad I met you, too," he said.

His statement was punctuated by a loud snap as Blynn's latest shot hit unusually far from its target and closer to the commander's head.

* * *

Hyren quietly piled more wood around the Fire Mote, who seemed quite content at being out of the cramped lantern for a while and in the midst of a real blaze. Terra and Blynn had fallen asleep to his stories again, and now the Grundo could feel himself starting to wear down as well. Letting out a yawn, he eased himself to the floor, taking off his helmet and laying his head on his muscular arm, alone with his thoughts for a while.

Perhaps Sloth wouldn't keep them prisoners forever. Maybe by the time they got out, they would have forgotten about the Grundo who once told them stories and then turned them over to a diabolical sociopath. Somehow that thought didn't comfort him as much as he wished it would.

"Now it's too hot in here," came a whispering complaint.

Well, so much for being alone. Hyren rolled over to see Blynn staring at him from on top of her sleeping bag, sprawled out on her back with her paws folded behind her head.

"Seriously, I feel like my fur is singeing," the Zafara said, scratching her belly.

"You're supposed to be asleep," Hyren said.

She rolled her eyes. "Can't sleep. I'll have to wait until the fire dies down again. You're spoiling that Mote, you know. It won't wanna go back in the lantern."

The commander watched her for a moment. "I think I like you better when you're not intolerably zany," he said.

The Zafara looked over at her owner, then back to the Grundo. "I try to keep her laughing," the magenta Neopet said. "She worries too much and it makes her sick sometimes. I don't wanna see the worry in her eyes."

"You're a lot smarter than you let on," Hyren said.

She grinned. "Yeah, that's the idea." They were both silent for a while, listening to the fire crackle. "I think I've been jealous of you this whole time, Hyren." Blynn let out a sigh as she shifted onto her side, propping up her head in her hand and letting her tail loll back behind her. "I've always been an only pet. It's weird seeing Terra give someone else attention." She traced abstract designs in the dusty floor. "She's really fond of you, you know."

Hyren felt his face heat up in embarrassment and he nodded. "Yeah."

She brushed away her patterns and looked up at him. "You don't really want to take us to Sloth, do you."

He swallowed hard and looked away. "I don't really have a choice, Blynn," he said. "This is my job. When it comes down to it, my job is what matters most. I can't betray everything I am for people I just met yesterday."

The Zafara grabbed her long toes, rocking back and forth. "Did Sloth send you specifically to capture us?" she asked.

"Well, no… I don't think he knows if I'll ever return," Hyren said. He paused and grimaced at his slip of the tongue. He hadn't wanted them to figure out that he was just a cosmic castaway scrambling to get back to his master with whatever prize he could muster.

"So don't go back," Blynn said. "He doesn't have to know."

Hyren rolled over so he was facing the wall. "Go to sleep, Blynn," he said with forced harshness. He heard a sigh and the rustle of a sleeping bag. Truth be told, the idea had snuck into his mind several times lately, but he was not about to let either of them know that. He couldn't give up everything he had built for himself out in the cosmos, could he? And he still wasn't about to betray Sloth, the man who had given him all of this strength and clout.

Not to mention, the doctor's words from the day he had mutated Hyren still echoed in the Grundo's memories. It would not surprise Hyren if Sloth did have some way, somehow, of retaliating against Hyren if the commander were ever to renounce loyalty to the overlord. It was not really something Hyren wanted to test.

Blynn's voice cut through the silence again. "Just so you know."

Her tone was serious enough to make him twist around, to see her glaring at him, her deep blue eyes suddenly hard as ice and her paws clutching the edge of her bedroll. "Terra's my best friend in the whole world," Blynn said. "I swear I'll never let you hurt her, Hyren. I'm watching you."

The commander paused for a moment before nodding, turning back over to escape her piercing gaze. It was evident now that she took her job just as seriously as he did his. And he was struggling to remind himself that their two jobs had to be in conflict.


	10. Chapter 10

"All right, in you go! Come on, now!" Blynn was having trouble getting the Fire Mote back into the lantern, as it obviously wanted to stay where there was fuel enough for it to make a large blaze.

Hyren watched in amusement, while out of the corner of his eye he made sure to observe where Terra was aiming her strikes during their after-breakfast sparring, so he could halfheartedly respond with the appropriate blocks. Without warning, however, she slowed down and his attention was drawn back to her.

The girl was doubled over, clutching her stomach, making Hyren's antennae jerk back in alarm. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

"I dunno… my stomach hurts," she said. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night…"

"Nightmares?" Hyren asked. He began to worry that she'd overheard his and Blynn's conversation.

Thankfully, she shook her head. "No… I just need to get out of here…"

With a sigh, he stowed his sword and patted her shoulder. "Make sure you're drinking enough water." Whether by some power of the Faeries or the ingenuity of builders, the little band of explorers had found a few channels of running water in the vast complex. It really was a marvel of engineering, Hyren mused to himself as Terra squeezed out a gulp from her canteen. One more story to add to his repertoire. Although he didn't know if he'd ever again meet anyone willing to listen to his stories.

"Gotcha!" Blynn said, using a piece of wood to scoop the Fire Mote into the lantern before slamming the window shut. The little elemental buzzed around its metal container for a moment, but finally settled down to sulk and brood over the wood chip Blynn had left for it. "Okay," the Zafara said, "let's head out."

"We're very close," Hyren said as he ushered the girls down the next passage. Terra's pace was even slower than it had been the day before. If she got any worse, he would have to carry her, he decided.

Before that could happen, however, Blynn turned the corner ahead of him and stopped. "Light!" she shouted, jumping up and down. "I see light!"

Terra perked up immediately, and Hyren followed her to see something he felt like he'd nearly forgotten existed: cold blue daylight dimly reflected on floor tiles.

"Let's go!" Terra said, running forward.

"Be careful!" Hyren called after her, jogging to catch up. "I don't know what's around that corner!" It had occurred to him from seeing the cobwebs yesterday that the closer they got to the surface, the more likely it was that other, larger things could be making these ruins their home.

Thankfully, his long legs quickly carried him to Terra's and Blynn's position. They rounded the corner, and then another, and then—

"Whoa…" Terra gasped, craning her neck at the sight in front of them.

The passageway terminated at a vast hall, comparable in size to the throne room. On the opposite wall was a series of lofty windows letting down vast shafts of sunlight, blinding after how much time Hyren had spent with firelight alone. He blinked, throwing up his arm to shade his eyes.

"Wow, that's a lotta sand," Blynn said, attaching the lantern to her backpack.

When Hyren's eyes had finished adjusting to the light, he got a closer look at the room and realised the floor was covered entirely in sand, gently rippled by the chill breeze whipping in through the windows, which made Terra hug her cloak tighter around her shoulders. The walls were covered in frescoes, but the figures and scenes were strangely cut off halfway when they hit the sand, and the three explorers stood at the top of a staircase that seemed to descend straight into the dune-covered floor. There were no other doorways visible.

"This room's been half-filled with sand," Hyren realised aloud.

"Oh, man…" Terra's shoulders sagged in defeat and she eyed the windows despairingly.

Hyren supposed they were built to be high off the floor to begin with, but even with a portion of the room being filled in, the windows were still out of reach. "We can probably climb up to them," he said, pointing to the elaborate stonework. "It's a good thing these Neopets seemed to be fond of decoration. Come on!" With a wave of his arm he urged them forward, stepping out onto the cold sand after them.

Terra perked up even more. "We're… we're gonna make it," she said, her pack jangling merrily as her hiking boots pounded into the miniature dunes. "We're almost there!"

"Yahoooo!" Blynn's whoop echoed off the stone walls as she bounded after her owner.

Hyren grinned as he tramped after them, although it faded after a moment. Seeing them so happy just ground his own conflict deeper. He could let them go, and they could continue in their innocent joy—or he could give them to Sloth. But he also had his own hide to worry about, he reminded himself. He knew Sloth wouldn't approve if one of his elite commanders returned from a mission without anything to show for it. Especially since Garoo had probably made sure to emphasize that Hyren's supposed demise was due to the Grundo's own incompetence.

A deep rumble beneath the mutant made him pause and look down at his own feet. The sand around them shifted back and forth like it lay on the surface of water. His eyes widened and he glanced up at the girls, who had also stopped and were looking around uneasily.

"Go! _Now!_ " he roared. Two immense mandibles breached the sand below him, carrying him into the air and holding him fast.

Hyren managed to twist around enough to see a gigantic, golden brown, many-segmented body, terminating in large blue eyes and the jaws holding him. The commander writhed in their grip, trying to grab his sword as the creature began to arc downward.

"Hyren!" Terra screamed, drawing her own blade and running toward the beast.

"That's the biggest Lyins I've ever seen!" Blynn said, nocking a piece of ammo in her slingshot and taking aim for the petpet's head.

The sandy floor between her and Terra erupted with a second giant Lyins. It hissed as it drew up in front of the Zafara, its legs undulating as its jagged mandibles clicked together. Blynn let out a yelp and then a cloud of sand obscured her from Hyren's sight.

"Terra, go back!" Hyren barked, finally able to grasp the hilt of his blade. Due to the awkward angle at which the Lyins had him around the waist, he was having difficulty pulling it out of the sheath.

"No!" she said, swinging her sword at the Petpet.

Her weak blows glanced off of its carapace, but it let out a shriek of annoyance and flinched back. Hyren felt its grip on him loosen. He pulled out his sword and struck, causing it to screech and drop him. The Grundo rolled to the floor and popped back up in one fluid motion, blinking away dizziness to see the Lyins eye Terra hungrily. The girl edged away from it with her sword thrust in front of her, coughing on aerated sand.

With a yell, Hyren charged the Petpet, bringing his sword down in a sweeping stroke that connected solidly. The Lyins hissed and recoiled, curling past him and diving back into the sand. Hyren grabbed Terra's shoulders, looking her over to make sure she was unharmed. "It'll be back," he said. "Go! Move! Blynn, where are you?!"

Another ear-piercing screech filled the hall, and the second Lyins rose up in front of them, bucking and writhing as it tried to rid itself of the Zafara clinging to its back. "I—don't—like—this—ride—!" Blynn said.

"Jump!" Terra called, sheathing her sword and stretching out her arms toward her Neopet as the Lyins curved backwards. Pushing off with her hind feet, Blynn launched herself at her owner. Her impact sent the girl staggering back, clutching her Zafara safely.

They turned to the hallway, but one of the Lyins breached the sand between them and the passage. "Get to the window!" Hyren ordered, pushing them toward the far side of the hall. If he'd had more firepower, the Lyins would be no problem, but the three motley travelers were no match for two humongous beasts.

Terra and Blynn stumbled on the unsteady footing as they scrambled toward the windows. Hyren struggled behind them as the two desert Petpets churned up their domain in an attempt to trap their prey. Terra reached the wall first and began to climb, finding easy handholds on the elaborately worked stone. Her adrenaline was doing its job.

One of the Lyins finally re-emerged and rammed the wall with its head. Terra stopped and cringed as bits of the stone crumbled and broke off. Hyren held his breath as she seemed about to fall, but she managed to hold on, and she let go with one hand to draw her sword. Giving a hoarse shout, she struck at the Lyins as it grazed past, pushing it back from Blynn who was now starting her ascent.

Hyren had to whack away the other Lyins before he reached the wall himself. Terra swung her leg over the windowsill and stretched a hand down to Blynn, who scrambled nimbly up the rock face. Chips of stone she kicked loose rained onto the visor of Hyren's helmet as he hoisted himself up.

The room shook, sand flew, and the Lyins shrieked behind him, but they were going to make it, he thought. One more foothold up, and his hand could reach the rim. Just as he took hold of it, a violent tremor rocked the entire wall. Hyren was flung backward onto one of the Lyins, right between its eyes. It began to rise in preparation for another dive into the sands.

"Hyren!" Blynn shouted, taking aim with her slingshot. "Heads up!"

Gulping in breaths, the commander tensed himself in preparation to leap for the window. His injured ankle gave a sudden twinge of pain and slipped out from under him, and he fell flat on the Petpet's carapace just as Blynn fired. The potsherd hurtled through the air, but to Hyren's surprise, it somehow exploded in front of the Lyins' face in a bright display of fireworks.

The beast let out a pained scream, its entire body convulsing and throwing Hyren forward. He took advantage of the momentum to aim himself so he landed gripping the windowsill. His ribs hurt like crazy, but his armour absorbed the brunt of the impact. Looking over his shoulder, he saw both Lyins, their mandibles snapping, swaying as they lifted themselves up to his level.

Two pairs of hands wrapped around his wrists and he glanced up.

"We've got you," Terra said as she and Blynn pulled with all their might.

Utilising their meager strength, Hyren was able to run his feet the rest of the way up the wall. Where he had been dangling a moment previous, a Lyins headbutted, splintering the stone. The world outside was blinding, and Hyren had to will his eyes to stay open as he leaned against the windowsill and tried to get his bearings.

"Down the rocks!" Blynn said, leading him and Terra to a pile of rubble that had built up against the outside rim.

Terra paused halfway down. "Phew… looks like… they can't get to us," she panted. The Lyins, unable to fit through the windows, rammed against the walls in vain.

"Good," Hyren said. The Petpets sunk out of sight and their frustrated screeches gradually faded.

The three of them had emerged on a mountainside, Hyren realised as he carefully picked his way around boulders and jagged shards of granite. This was a much different place than where they had come in. Far from the sunbaked Lost Desert, it was cold and desolate grey stone completely unlike the red rock of the sand-bordered cliffs. As he looked up at the stark mountain face, he saw that there were numerous openings hewn directly into the slopes, undoubtedly other passages and rooms in a subterranean palace complex he hadn't quite fathomed the expanse of. To either side reached a massive range of craggy peaks much like the one they were standing on.

"We must have gone right through the mountains," Terra said, wiping sweat from her brow and looking up at the distant summit, shrouded in snow. "No wonder it took so long to get out."

"And that explains why we were able to reach an exit by descending through the caves," Hyren said, his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. "Those cliffs in the Lost Desert must be at a higher elevation than where we came out."

Blynn turned around. "I wonder where we are now…"

Hyren and Terra followed suit, and Hyren found himself staring out at numberless hills and valleys carpeted with a thick, dark forest, stretching into a thin mist that obscured the horizon and seemed to cling to the treetops like filmy Spyderwebs. A chill wind blew up from the foothills, carrying with it the heavy scent of pine and old growth as well as smells Hyren couldn't quite place but unnerved him somehow.

"The Haunted Woods," Terra said.

"You've been here before?" Hyren tilted his head down toward her.

She clutched her arms. "We don't go here often."

"Why not?"

"Because it's _haunted?_ " Blynn replied, looking up at Hyren like he was thick in the head.

He snorted, placing his hands on his hips. "Well, the dossiers said witches and ghosts live there, but it's all just for show, isn't it? I mean, the witch in the tower gives you _candy_ , for crying out loud."

"Other stuff lives there too," the Zafara said, returning her gaze to the dark forest. "Stuff you don't wanna run into."

Terra sighed, turning her face to the sky. "At least… at least we're finally out of there," she said. "We can see the sun again."

"Yeah," Blynn said, absently adjusting the straps of her pack. An awkward silence followed, interrupted only by the howling mountain winds.

Finally, the Neopet and owner shifted around on the steep slope and looked up at Hyren. "You…" Terra said haltingly. "You aren't really gonna take us to Sloth, are you?"

Hyren swallowed the massive lump in his throat and it seemed to plunge straight to his stomach. This was it. He could either do his job, or save the only two beings he'd ever started to consider friends. His heart felt like it was threatening to pound right out of his chest, and he was trying with all his might to disguise his anxiety, not willing to betray either of them to the turmoil inside. But he also knew he had to answer soon.

Summoning his mental strength, he shoved the doubts and fears into the back of his mind, stared into those two pairs of big, blue, hopeful eyes—and lied. "Of course not," he answered, forcing a smirk onto his face. "The both of you are really more trouble than you're worth, you know that? Considering all you've put me through so far, I don't want to know what kind of headaches you'd cause me out in space."

To his surprise, they hugged him, Terra throwing her arms around his waist while Blynn clung to his leg. "Thank you," Terra said. Her face was buried in his stomach armour, but he could tell from the tone of her voice that she was crying.

"I knew you were a good guy," Blynn said, beaming up at him.

He smiled back, inwardly praising himself for successfully pulling the wool over her eyes. If things had just gotten so much easier for him, then why did he feel even sicker inside? It was the cold air, he decided.

Terra finally pulled away from him, her face streaked with tears. "Can I adopt you?"

Hyren felt his jaw fall slack, and his antennae twitched for a moment before he shook his head. "I appreciate the sentiment," he said, patting her head, "but I'm an independent pet. I can't be tied down to one world like this. I belong out there, among the stars. But I will take the two of you home. Where do you live?"

"Mystery Island," Blynn said.

"Okay. If I remember my maps correctly," Hyren said, "we should head east to the coast and find a port."

Nothing doing, Hyren thought to himself. He needed to find the nearest transport to the Space Station, and he was hopeful that stumbling across civilization would present him with that opportunity. From there, he would have to find some way to get back to Sloth, wherever the doctor was. "So, it's settled, then," the commander continued nonchalantly, cracking his knuckles. "Are you gals up for more walking? We should at least try to make it down the mountain before nightfall."

"Blynn, what are the rules for exploring the Haunted Woods?" Terra asked as they began to move again.

"Never stray from the campfire at night, never leave anyone alone," the Zafara recited, counting off the rules on her paws, "and… don't follow the lights!"

"Good!" The owner smiled. "I'm sure we'll be extra safe since we have Hyren with us."

The look she gave him made his heart sink, but he tried to stay focused, mentally planning out what would transpire once they found a way to the Space Station. The harder he tried to think about it, the more he couldn't. Finally he just gave up.

"Blynn, I didn't know you'd stowed explosives in your ammo pouch," the commander said as he carefully tromped down a spill of loose gravel.

"What?" The Zafara glanced over at him.

"Back there, with those… Lyins, you called them? Those were some great pyrotechnics."

Her muzzle wrinkled. "What are you talking about? That was a regular piece of pottery I shot."

"No it wasn't. It exploded," Hyren said.

"I think I know explosives when I see 'em," Blynn said.

"It was the Faerie magic," Terra said. She pushed her glasses up her nose. "I bet that's what it was. Hyren said your slingshot probably had special properties."

Blynn pulled out the weapon and turned it over in her paws. "Wicked… let's see more fireworks!" Grabbing a handful of ammo, she shot into the air ahead. Absolutely nothing happened, the terracotta remnants merely falling onto the mountainside unceremoniously. "I don't get it…" the Zafara said. "How'd it explode before?"

"Maybe because you were in combat?" Terra said. "It probably senses a great need and that activates the magic. Or something like that. Right?"

She looked up at Hyren, who nodded even though he knew very little of Faerie magic except that it was potent. "Sounds good to me," he replied.

"Well, I'm running low," Blynn said, stooping over to grab handfuls of gravel. "I hope this stuff explodes too."


	11. Chapter 11

They spent the rest of the day descending the mountainside, winding their way through rough-hewn canyons and over rocky ridges, following cold crystal streams that splashed enthusiastically away from their origin in some glacial peak and spilled down sheer cliffs into deep blue pools. The forest rose up to meet the three travelers like a great, dark wave, engulfing them in shadow as they passed the first gnarled old trunks of heavy-boughed trees.

By day, Hyren found, the Haunted Woods was not really all that Terra made it out to be. The Grundo had been expecting to see ghosts and ghouls popping out at every turn, but the Woods were far more dignified than to stoop to petty shock tactics. Rather, they were quiet, incredibly quiet, and the air hung dense around him. Nothing chirped overhead or scurried through undergrowth, although if Hyren listened hard enough, he thought he could almost catch indistinct whispers far in the distance. He got the impression that the entire Woods seemed to be holding its breath, waiting dormant for something, but not asleep. Never asleep.

In spite of Terra's initial trepidation, she and Blynn were almost acting like this was a cheery holiday picnic, a refreshing change of mood from the somber air they'd developed in the fortress. Terra's steps were lighter and Blynn was positively skipping as she cavorted at her owner's side, singing off-key, nonsensical tunes. Hyren wasn't sure if they were actual Neopian songs, or things she was making up off the top of her head, although he wouldn't put that past her.

One side effect of his ruse was that now he could allow himself to build up rapport with his prisoners. They were expecting him to, after all, because they didn't realise they were still prisoners. He leaned down to Terra. "Is she always like this?" he muttered in a teasing tone to the girl out of the side of his mouth, nudging her playfully.

Terra chuckled. "Only on days that end in Y."

"Hah," Hyren said.

"One," Blynn suddenly called out, pointing to a tree. "Seven. Twenty-nine." She pointed to another, and another. "Two billion, three hundred thousand, and six. Five hundred seventy-two. One-half."

"Okay, what are you doing _now?_ " Hyren asked her.

"Counting the trees, if you must know," Blynn said.

"Why are you counting them out of order?" Terra asked with an entertained grin.

Blynn smiled roguishly back. "I can't very well count all of 'em at the same time!"

"What's the 'half' tree?" Hyren asked.

The Zafara scratched her head. "I dunno. I think it might be a bush in disguise."

All too soon, the sun sank, turning the light golden before it faded entirely, leaving an ominous red sky overhead. With the departure of the sun, the air around them felt colder and more foreboding. Grundos' sense of smell left a lot to be desired, but even Hyren could catch unrecogniseable tinges in the air that hadn't been there by day. And the sounds from earlier seemed to have grown closer. He was glad the girls had heavy cloaks, which they now wrapped around themselves to stave off the chill. He could have used one, himself.

"Well, let's set up camp here," he said when they reached a small clearing, swinging the weapons bundle off of his shoulders. "Who wants to gather firewood?"

Terra and Blynn had been in the process of taking off their own backpacks, but now they both stopped and looked up at him uneasily. "We can't go alone," Terra said. "It's really not safe."

"And even if two people go, one person will be left behind and still be alone," Blynn said.

He looked at them for a moment and nodded. "All three of us, then."

This turned out to be a boon, since he was more than happy to carry all the fallen twigs and branches that Terra and Blynn could harvest. Thanks to his strength, they were able to amass a much larger pile than either of them working alone—and since they were doing the gathering, he could hold it all in both arms. They'd be nice and warm that night.

"Can we forage for anything here?" Hyren asked as he relaxed by their roaring blaze. The Fire Mote danced among the wood and the girls ate more of the fruit they'd collected in the Lost Desert. He and Terra had just finished another sparring session.

He was disappointed that he would not have nearly enough time to teach her even half of what he knew about swordplay before they would be separated, and she would not have the chance to practice where she was headed. Perhaps he was just composing a mental list of things he hoped she and her Neopet would accomplish if—no, _when_ they managed to escape from Sloth. Hyren didn't know how or why, but he hoped they would. For some reason that was the only thing keeping him going right now.

"I wouldn't try it," Terra said, taking a bite of an aptly-named Pyramid Pear. "I don't trust anything that grows around here."

"Well, the candy Edna gives out is good," Blynn said, licking Tchea juice from her paws. "But I dunno where she is from here. We're probably pretty far away from that part of the Woods."

"How much longer do you think it'll take us to reach civilization?" Hyren asked. He was starting to worry about their food supplies now.

Terra seemed to get the hint, as she began inspecting the contents of her backpack. "I'm not sure…" She glanced up at him. "Well, if we find any apple trees, we can probably take from those. I think they should be safe."

"Unless they scream when you pick 'em," Blynn said around a mouthful of Tchea Fruit.

"… Well, yeah," Terra said, gulping.

"Or green smoke comes out of 'em when you bite 'em."

"Okay, or that."

"Or if they try to bite _you_."

"Okay, okay!"

Blynn giggled a little maniacally. "Yeah, apples should be fine."

Hyren rolled his eyes. He decided he'd just have to trust his own best judgement when it came to the food here—after all, he'd been successful in getting them out of scrapes so far. Reclining on the smooth, cold dirt, he folded his hands behind his head. "You know, I've told you a lot of stories about my experiences, but what about yours? Explorers like you should have plenty of tales of your own."

The Neopet and owner looked at each other and then back to him. "… I guess so," Terra said. "But we're nowhere near as cool as you. Our adventures are pretty wimpy compared to yours. Well, except for this one, I guess."

"Hey, don't sell yourselves short," Hyren said. "You're great adventurers. I'd love to hear what you gals have been up to."

Terra pushed her glasses up her nose in an ineffective attempt to hide her embarrassment. "Well… we were at Terror Mountain before we went to the Lost Desert," she said. "We'd just finished exploring the Ice Caves."

"Terror Mountain has ice caves?" Hyren sat up. "Huh, the reports didn't say anything about that."

"Really?" Blynn tilted her head. "Your sources must be pretty dense."

"We were searching for the mythical Vale of Spring," Terra said.

Hyren turned his antennae toward her. "Oh?"

She nodded, settling back on her sleeping bag and drawing herself up like a venerated storyteller. "It was mentioned in a few old texts I found in the Faerieland bookshop: a valley of eternal spring hidden somewhere on Terror Mountain, only accessible through a passageway in the Ice Caves."

"What about your claustrophobia?" Hyren asked.

"The Ice Caves aren't like those tunnels." Terra jerked her thumb back in the direction of the peak they had hiked down from. "They're… they're beautiful, Hyren. Vast halls covered in ice, with patches of ceiling open to the sky so the sun shines through, reflects off the ice crystals, and makes everything glitter like jewels." She sighed. "If you ever get the chance, I recommend going there. It's an experience you won't forget."

The commander raised an eyebrow. "I'll be sure to give it a visit sometime." Inside, he was wishing with all his heart that he could immerse himself fully in simply sitting and swapping tales with them. But there was always that looming mental reminder of his purpose for his companions, keeping him tied to reality. He made sure to let none of that show. "So did you find it?"

"What? Oh…" Terra shook her head. "No. We searched for two weeks, tried every passage that… wasn't too small." Hyren wondered if she was remembering the crawlspace she'd saved him from. "But we couldn't find anything. Maybe it was just a myth, after all."

The Grundo leaned back on his hands. "Are you disappointed?"

"No." Terra grinned. "We had a lot of fun just exploring."

"Yeah, like how we tried probably fifty different slushie flavors!" Blynn licked her lips. "We gotta go back there again soon, Terra! I'm totally craving their Mystery Berry flavor!"

"Blynn," Terra said with a laugh, "I'm pretty sure 'Mystery Berry' is what they label all of their slushies that don't turn out right."

"That's what makes 'em taste so good!" Blynn said. "You never know what you're gonna get!"

Hyren snickered and looked back at Terra. "So what made you decide to go to the Lost Desert?" he asked.

"Well, the Ice Caves are pretty and all," she said, "but as you can imagine, after two weeks, we were getting awfully cold."

" _You_ were cold," Blynn said. " _I_ have _fur_."

Terra snorted. "So I figured we'd go somewhere nice and warm next," she said. "I've always thought the Lost Desert was neat. You can find some really interesting stuff in the marketplace at Sakhmet."

"Too bad they're probably still rebuilding," Hyren said.

"What?" Terra gave him an odd look.

"You know… from the attack?"

"Attack?"

"Doctor Sloth's forces?" the commander asked. His pride was beginning to feel bruised, if no one remembered how he had helped nearly destroy the city.

Terra's eyes lit up with realisation. "Oh! Wow, yeah, the city's all fixed up from that now," she said. "That was like… last year."

Hyren stared hard at her. " _Last year?_ " He knew he'd been at the oasis for a while, but the way time seemed to blend and slip out there, he'd apparently become completely unaware of just how long he'd been missing.

Terra's expression turned to one of confusion. "Yeah… Why do you ask?" she said.

"I lost track of time," he said. "I was out in the desert for longer than I thought…"

"How'd you get out there, anyway?" Blynn asked him, reclining on her sleeping bag. "Seems kinda weird for Sloth to send one of his commanders out to a cave in the middle of nowhere to kidnap people."

Hyren sighed. "I was separated from my forces," he said. "Then I was attacked by Sakhmetians. The desert was my only escape."

" _Your_ forces, huh?" Blynn lowered her eyelids and Hyren knew he'd said too much. "So _you_ invaded Sakhmet."

"I was just doing my job," he grunted.

"It's okay," Terra said. "You're a good guy now." She looked over at her Neopet. "Right?"

Blynn huffed, but grinned. "Yeah. Just don't do it again, okay?"

"Grundo's honor," Hyren said. Of course there was no such thing as 'Grundo's honor', and of course he was going to go right back to war and conquest after this. But the longer he could keep them deceived, the better.

The Zafara yawned. "Tell us more stories, Hyren."

Hyren felt a strange swelling in his chest. Maybe it was pride in the experiences he was sharing—or maybe, somehow, it was the satisfaction of giving her and Terra something they'd desperately longed for: a friend. "What do you know about comets?" he asked.

"They're lumps of ice and dirt that orbit the sun," Terra said, lying down, "and when they get close enough, the ice starts evaporating and forms a tail."

"Wrong," Hyren said. He let the quizzical look on her face hang for a moment. "They're sentient creatures, made of living segments of ice that reflect light prismatically in a myriad of colours. Their great dark heads are just one gaping maw."

The girls' eyes widened. "What do they eat?" Blynn whispered, clutching her sleeping bag.

"Research suggests they devour worlds," Hyren said. Terra swallowed hard and shrank closer to the fire, and the commander realised this probably wasn't the best choice of stories to have told them. "Don't worry, they don't live anywhere near the Neopian system," he added with a wave of his hand. "And I'm sure the Space Faerie would deal with them if any got close. She's good at looking out for you guys."

Terra nodded, although she still looked unsure.

"He's right, you know," Blynn said. "The Space Faerie's super neat. Remember we read about her in the Gallery of Heroes?"

Her owner cracked a smile. "Yeah. And I've heard people say that she grants the wishes of Neopets who have done brave and selfless things. So we just have to keep being good people, and we'll be okay."

Hyren hoped so. If the Space Faerie really was that magnanimous – at least toward Neopets who didn't work for Sloth – he hoped she would rescue them, sooner rather than later.

Not wanting to think too much more about that, he cleared his throat. "Sorry. I should have picked a less scary topic," he said. "Umm, let's see…" He sat back on his hands. "How about the time my fleet found a cloud of migrating Space Fungus spores in a nebula? Now that was an amazing sight, millions of softly twinkling lights drifting in a vast magenta mist. As we passed through, the spores would glide right past the ship's bridge, making it look like we were ploughing through some surreal snowstorm."

"Mmmm." Terra closed her eyes, a smile spreading over her face. "That must have been amazing."

"It was," Hyren said. "Now rest up, we've got plenty of hiking to do tomorrow." Blynn seemed to have already dozed off.

"G'night, Hyren," Terra said.

"Good night, Terra." Hyren heaved a sigh and pulled off his helmet, setting it down beside him. How many more times would he get to say that? And why did he have to care so much? Maybe Sloth really should have wiped his brain, Hyren thought. It would have saved the commander so much anguish. He shifted onto his side, staring into the darkness beyond and watching for anything to encroach upon their circle of light.

After a few minutes, he heard rustling behind him. Antennae perking, he rolled over to see Terra in the act of reaching into her pack, looking at him like she'd just been caught stealing from a cookie jar.

"What are you doing?" Hyren asked.

She withdrew her hand. "Nothing…"

He smirked and tilted his head. "You don't have to be ashamed. I'm just curious."

Terra was silent for a moment, and then she reached back into her pack and pulled out her sketchbook, clutching it to her chest as though he might try to take it away. "I, uh… I wanted to draw you." The owner looked up at him timidly. "So I'll have something to remember you by after you leave."

The smirk faded from Hyren's face as he stared at her, trying to formulate a response. Never before had he met anyone who'd attached themselves to him, and here she was, thinking highly of him, in spite of all he had done and all the trouble he'd put her through. "I… I'm flattered," he managed to get out. "Do you… need me to sit up?" He placed one massive hand on the ground, anticipating movement.

She shook her head. "No, it's okay. I think I can draw you fine like this." She unzipped a thin bag and pulled out a pencil, holding it close to its point as she hunched over the sketchbook, deep in concentration.

Hyren propped himself up on one elbow and watched her, glad his training had taught him how to keep still. "I've never had someone draw me before," he said. "I've had holograms taken for ID purposes, but that's about it."

"Do they have paper up there?" Terra asked him, moving the pencil around the page with much deliberation.

"Not much of it. In space, most things are electronic. It's a far cry from native Neopian tech, that's for sure. I'm surprised this backwater planet even knows how to work what it gets from Virtupets."

She smiled. "We Neopians are a resourceful bunch."

As she drew, Hyren thought, and wished there was some way he could manually turn his brain off just so he wouldn't be driven crazy by thinking too much. His emotions had never been so tangled as this, and no matter how much he tried to convince himself things would be okay, he still had that gnawing pit in his stomach, which seemed to grow worse every time he reminded himself of the decision he had made.

Terra lifted the pencil from the paper and sat back, scrutinizing the page sceptically. "Okay, I'm done," she said, packing her pencil away and hovering the sketchbook over her backpack as well.

Hyren shook himself out of his meditative trance and sat up. "What, don't I get to see it?" he asked.

She looked up at him and grimaced. "Uh, it's… it's not very good."

"I'm sure it's better than you think," the commander said. "Please?" He extended his hand.

Reluctantly, her head turned aside in embarrassment, Terra handed off the sketchbook to him. He drew it close and inspected what she had drawn. The young teen wasn't exactly a professional artist, but he wasn't expecting her to be at her age. The cartoonish hulking Grundo sketched on the page was a little lopsided and stiff, and his proportions were off, but there was a certain energy put into the drawing that was hard to miss. A chuckle escaped Hyren's lips, his large red eyes creasing in a smile.

Immediately Terra's face fell. "Is it really that bad?"

"No," he said. "I like it. It looks just like me." Instead of giving her the sketchbook back, however, he began leafing through to previous pages, careful not to tear the paper with his strong fingers. There were more amateurish drawings of some of the artefacts they'd encountered in the throne room, and further back, sketches of various other items, landscapes, Neopets, and creatures. "They're nice," he said as he returned the book to her.

"Thanks," she replied, flipping through it herself as if to reappraise its contents.

"Do you want to be an artist?" Hyren asked.

Terra smiled, slipping the sketchbook into her pack. "Maybe. I haven't really figured it out yet. Blynn and I do well enough just exploring."

"I think you could be a good artist, with more practice and training," the Grundo said.

She looked over at him and blushed, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Thanks."

"But for now, you really should get some sleep," he said. "I want to get moving bright and early tomorrow so we can do as much walking during the day as possible."

"Right." Terra lay back down with a yawn. "Good night, Hyren."

"Night," he replied over his shoulder before shifting back to face the Woods again. His helmet lay nearby, flickers of firelight glinting off of the lifeless visor.

Reaching up, Hyren rubbed at his face in annoyance. His mind wouldn't have let him sleep even if he'd wanted to. So there wouldn't be much to do until dawn except listen to the snaps and pops of the fire, and the occasional strange noises in the trees. The Grundo was fairly confident that with his blaster and sword, he could take care of anything foolish enough to breach the boundaries of their campsite. Satisfied in that thought, he fell into meditation again, wondering how his troops were faring without him in the stars above, if they had been placed under another's command, if Sloth even cared he was gone.

Hyren wasn't sure whether minutes or hours had passed, but he was jerked out of his thoughts by a faint, very familiar beeping. He glanced over at his helmet and saw the visor light up with a red glow, and his eyes widened. Of all the strange luck in the galaxy.

He didn't have to think twice before grabbing the helmet and jamming it on his head as he jumped to his feet. _Don't follow the lights._ Blynn's words from earlier that day echoed in his mind, and he bit his tongue to keep his focus. He looked at the Neopet and owner to make sure they were fast asleep before dashing out into the trees, trying to get out of earshot before his helmet gave out again. _Never stray from the campfire at night._

He opened up the control panel on one bracer and input the first frequency that came to mind, tapping one foot while he waited for the system to configure his request. A beep and a click on the other end let him know the transmission had gone through. "This is Commander Hyren," he breathed. "Do you copy?"

A pause. Then, "Commander?!" The voice on the other end was organic, which surprised Hyren slightly. He'd been expecting an automated system, as robotics made up the bulk of Sloth's administrative departments. "Is that really you?! I thought they'd lost you at Sakhmet!"

"I'm tougher to get rid of than that," he replied hoarsely. "Who is this?"

"Dothan Reebitz, Head of Communications on His Superiority Sloth's flagship, the _Triumph_ … sir."

"Dothan? No wonder you sounded familiar…" Reebitz was—well, he wasn't someone Hyren could consider a friend, really. But he and the unmutated yellow Grundo had crossed paths a while back, and Hyren thought of Dothan as an acquaintance. Or, more accurately, a fan club.

"Why didn't you contact us sooner?" the communications officer asked. "I didn't want to believe you were really gone, sir—I mean, you've survived less likely situations before! Like the invasion of Malmuk III,when you led your forces against an army twice your size, and singlehandedly faced off against and defeated their commander during the decisive Battle of Odo Hill! The historians were talking about that one for ages!"

"My helmet was busted," the commander said, not in the mood to discuss war stories for once. "I'm surprised my transmission got through. Dumb thing hasn't worked for months." He'd switched back over into a different mode now: terse, professional, cynical. The way he used to be constantly before getting to know his captives. These last few days had changed him more than he wanted to admit. "I have prisoners," he said, "test subjects for Sloth. A—a Zafara and her owner." He forced the words out, and the vague hope entered his mind that perhaps Sloth didn't need test subjects any more.

That made Dothan's reply all the more heart-rasping. "A Zafara, really? Master Sloth hasn't had any of those to work with yet, I'm sure he'll be most pleased! Excellent work, as always, Commander!"

Hyren's lips thinned. He couldn't bring himself to thank the transmissions operator for the flattery. "I'm taking them to the Virtupets Space Station. From there I'll try to find transport to the _Triumph_."

"Oh, no need, sir!" Dothan said, his obliviously fawning tone beginning to irk the commander. "We have an agent in the Neopian system right now—I'll contact her and tell her to swing on by and pick you up!"

Hyren felt his heart thud against his ribcage. With every word out of his mouth his entire body was screaming at him to reconsider, and it was becoming more and more difficult to do his duty. If ever there was a test of an officer's resolve, this was it.

"Commander?" Dothan asked. "Oh dear, I hope the transmission hasn't dropped…"

"I'm still here," Hyren croaked. "That sounds perfect. My coordinates are…" He glanced at the corner of his HUD. "Seventy-eight-point-six degrees south, thirty-two-point-one degrees west."

Terra hadn't wanted to forget him, he thought. _Oh, please forget me, Terra,_ he pleaded mentally. _You'll never forgive me for this._

"Wonderful!" Dothan replied. Hyren could hear typing on the other end. "I'll tell her to be there ASAP. Sloth will undoubtedly be pleased by your return, sir."

"Yeah," Hyren grunted. He was done talking to this sycophant. "Commander Hyren, over and out."

"It was a pleasure talking to—" Before Dothan could finish, Hyren cut the communication.

Limply, he removed the helmet and held it in both hands, staring down at the visor. It still glowed a soft red from the inside, reflecting silver moonlight that was rapidly being swallowed up by thick clouds. His mouth was dry as sawdust and his stomach felt like it was going to turn over on itself. Never before had the right choice felt so wrong.

He turned to go back to camp, and was met by a fierce scream and a bundle of fur hurtling toward him. " _How could you?!_ " Blynn screeched as she latched onto his face, sending him staggering backward. " _How could you, Hyren?! I hate you!_ "

Grabbing her by the scruff of her neck, the Grundo pulled the Zafara off of his head. He dangled her from his outstretched arm as she continued to kick and writhe, her tail lashing.

"I'm sorry!" he roared. "I'm sorry, okay?! I'm just—I'm just doing my job, Blynn!"

"I thought we were friends!" Thick tears welled up in her eyes. "I _trusted_ you! _Terra_ trusted you! How could you do this to her?!"

He gave the Zafara a rough shake. "I can't be your friend, Blynn!" Now that his gig was up, he knew he had to break her attachment from him as swiftly as possible, before doing so would become even more heartwrenching.

Blynn hissed, baring her fangs and grabbing his bracer with both paws. "We're a team!" she said. Arching her back, she brought up her hind legs and began kicking ineffectively at Hyren's arm.

"Don't delude yourself!" the commander snarled. "We were never a team! I can't—"

He was cut off by another female scream rising into the night, this one bone-chillingly startled and frightened—and then muffled.

And it had come from the direction of the campsite.

Both Neopets whipped around in tandem, respective ears and antennae pricking and quivering. Blynn's eyes grew wide and she looked over at Hyren, and he knew they were both thinking the same thing.

 _Never leave anyone alone._


	12. Chapter 12

The Grundo dropped the Zafara and the two made a mad dash back through the woods.

"Why did you leave her by herself?!" Hyren asked.

"Me?! You're one to talk!" Blynn spat as she raced beside him on all fours. "I told you I'd be watching you!"

They found the camp in disarray, the fire smothered, and Terra nowhere in sight. "No…" Blynn covered her mouth with her paw as she trudged toward Terra's disheveled pack and bedroll, smoothing down the sleeping bag as though she was hoping her owner was somehow hiding in it. "She… she's gone…"

Hyren's shoulders sagged. He had never meant for this to happen. It was all his fault the girl and her Neopet were on this wild misadventure, and now she could come to harm because of him. And she would, anyway, if he brought her to Sloth. Suddenly Hyren wished he'd never survived Sakhmet.

He began carefully inspecting the campsite, watching his HUD's biosensor at the same time. He was going to take advantage of his tech for as long as it stayed working. Small dots of life were scattered everywhere, bio-traces of Petpets in the trees, but nothing large enough to be Terra, or whatever had carried her off. "I'm not seeing any pertinent life forms on my scanner," he said. "They must have moved fast… We'll find her."

"What do you mean, 'we'?" Blynn asked as she grabbed the lantern and marched over to the dying remnants of the fire. The Mote was still there, but rather than try to cajole the spooked fire sprite into the lantern, Blynn just brusquely scooped it in and shut the window. "You go back to your precious Doctor Sloth, _Commander_. I'm not letting you near my owner again."

"No," Hyren said, scanning the leaf-covered ground. He spotted Terra's glasses and picked them up. They were miraculously undamaged, and he put them in an empty compartment of his utility belt. "The both of you are in this mess because of me. I won't abandon you now."

"Yeah, 'cause you want test subjects." Blynn rolled up Terra's bedding and fastened it to the girl's pack. "No thanks."

"I said I was sorry!"

Blynn glared venom up at him. "'Sorry' doesn't mean much."

"Look, every second we spend arguing is another second Terra's in danger!" Hyren said. "You don't have to like me, but just let me help you get her back!" Depressions among dead leaves caught his eye. "Blynn, how good are you with footprints?"

She stopped trying to find a way to carry Terra's and her own backpacks at the same time, glancing over at him. "Not very. Why?"

"These definitely aren't any of ours." Hyren pointed to the tracks. "They look like they could belong to a Lupe, but… do Lupes get this big?"

The Zafara loped over to him. "Werelupes do."

Hyren's antennae twitched. "Were… Lupes?"

She leaned over the tracks, tilting her head. "They're like regular Lupes, but… bigger and stronger. And wilder. They don't have owners."

"Then what would they want with an owner?"

Blynn thought for a moment before shaking her head, her long ears flopping from side to side as she clutched at her arms. "I don't wanna find out."

"Come on." Hyren knelt down next to Terra's pack and lashed it to his cache of Faerie weapons before hefting the entire bundle back over his shoulder. He could easily handle even more weight than this, and he didn't want to leave anything of hers behind. "Let's get moving, before it starts raining and these tracks get erased." He picked up her sword and strapped it to his waist opposite his own blade, the belt barely fitting his girth.

"I told you, you're not coming." Blynn gripped the straps of her pack and began setting out in the direction the pawprints pointed.

Hyren reached down and grabbed her bedroll to hold her back. "I'm not letting you take on Werelupes alone," he said.

"I've gotta weapon!" She patted the slingshot at her side.

"Blynn, do Werelupes live in packs?" Hyren asked.

She thought for a moment before sticking out her chin. "Well, yeah, but… I'll be fine! Especially if the explosion thing happens again!"

"You're just one Neopet, and you have no idea how many Werelupes could be at the end of this trail!" Hyren said.

"And you just want her back so you can bring her to Sloth!"

Hyren crouched down so he was nearly eye level with her, and stared closely at her, his hands on his knees. "Sloth," he said, "needs Zafara test subjects. He probably has more than enough owners. Chew on that. If all I cared about was currying his favor, I would just take you and leave. I've done some pretty idiotic things lately, but I care about Terra just as much as you do, in spite of my best efforts to deny it."

Blynn wrinkled her nose. "Are you going to betray her?"

He stood again, holding out his hands, palms up. "I seriously don't want to. I have a job to do, and I owe my loyalty to Sloth. But I'll… I'll figure something out. I promise."

Narrowing her eyes, the Zafara scrutinised him for a moment, and then turned and dropped to all fours. "Try to keep up." With that, she dashed into the night.

"Pay attention to the trail!" Hyren called after her, drawing his sword and breaking into a jog. Although she was fast, his long, loping strides allowed him to easily keep pace with her. He clutched the rope around his shoulders, pulling his bundle of weapons close to his back so outstretched branches wouldn't pull it away. After all of the insanity he had been through lately, he was looking forward to his rightful compensation. He just had to make sure Terra was safe, first.

The two Neopets passed through paths in the dense undergrowth that were just barely large enough for Hyren to fit through, and he wondered what had made them. He felt like hitting himself for not spending more time researching the Haunted Woods, but it had never figured largely into the invasion plan. Aside from that, Virtupets agents simply hadn't returned all that much information on the mysterious and dangerous land. In fact, Hyren wouldn't have been surprised if some agents had never returned at all.

The Woods seemed to press in on them incessantly and the pricking at the back of the commander's neck was constant, just like the nagging sensation that something was following them, although every time he turned around he saw nothing. Hyren could only hope the light from Blynn's lantern would keep danger at bay. He didn't dare use the lights in his own armour—the brightness would have made him far too conspicuous.

The Grundo stopped at a small clearing where the earth was harder-packed than the soft soil they'd encountered so far. The tracks were now much more difficult to pick out. They were hopelessly scattered and jumbled, and with too many of them to have possibly belonged to just one Werelupe. "Oh. Great," he muttered. "Hold up!" he called to Blynn, who continued to sprint pell-mell toward one of many openings in the trees.

She skidded to a stop and looked back at him. "C'mon, we gotta keep going!" she panted.

"I lost the trail," Hyren said, making his way around the perimeter, trying to find a set of pawprints that broke away from the chaos. There were several leading into the clearing, but none going out.

"So?" Her tail twitched in impatience. "Hurry! This way!"

Hyren snorted. "You don't know for sure it's that way. It could be any—"

"Yeah, I can smell 'em this way." She frowned and pointed to her nose. "So there."

The commander blinked. "You can smell them? Why didn't you say so before and save us the trouble of following footprints?!"

"I was never following footprints!" she said.

"Oh," Hyren said. With a sigh, he stood up straight. He was glad at least one of them had a good nose.

"Now c'mon! If it rains I'll lose the scent!" Blynn said.

"Right. Lead on, then." The Grundo followed her deeper into the Woods. With every step he took, he dreaded what he might find at the end of the trail. _Please be okay, Terra. Blynn needs you. I… I need you_.


	13. Chapter 13

The moon sunk deep beneath clouds, cold rains came and went, and Hyren and Blynn rushed on through thick woodland and tumultuous terrain. The Mutant Grundo was willing to keep his pace for days more. And Blynn continued to run just ahead of him, with endurance that was astonishing for her small size.

Finally, chilled and soaked to the bone, the two burst out of a thicket and stopped. Tattered, rain-torn clouds near the horizon allowed silver moonlight to illuminate the landscape. The forest petered out around them, and to either side the land, too, dropped off, sheer and jagged, into a black nothingness. Only straight ahead did it extend as a peninsula into a sea of mist. On that outcropping of stone sat an enormous castle, built of thick-hewn blocks of dark granite, brooding silently over the deep.

The castle had seen better days – one of its corner towers had collapsed, and the walls were crowded with thorny vines – but firelight flickered in a few of the windows. From the rampart hung a torn crimson banner, sporting the crudely-painted symbol of a white crescent moon above a large pawprint.

Hyren had scarcely enough time to take the scene in when a throaty howl echoed from the castle, joined by several others rising in unison. Blynn caught her breath and then began to dart out into the open, but Hyren grabbed her pack and held her back. "Hold on," he grunted, watching his HUD's biosensor. "That place is swarming with life forms." He tagged her as an allied unit, making her presence register as a green glow in the corner of his visor. The biomass in the castle was still orange-neutral—for now.

"I don't see anything," Blynn whispered, trying to wriggle out of his grip. "Let's go!"

"There are guards on the walls," Hyren said. Although the night was too dark and the castle too far away for Blynn's unaided eyes to see, the commander's visor clearly showed a handful of beings atop the ramparts, some standing still while others mulled about. "They haven't noticed us yet."

"I got this," Blynn said. She shut the lantern window, cloaking them in darkness. Carefully, she took out her slingshot and grabbed a piece of ammo from her pouch. The Zafara placed it in the sling's pocket and drew it back. Tongue sticking out in concentration, she fired into the sky to the side of the castle.

Hyren wasn't expecting much, so it made him jump when the night suddenly exploded into bright fireworks, sending whistles and claps of thunder rippling through the air. The guards stood still for a moment and then rushed to the wall of the fortress nearest the explosions.

The commander and the Zafara made their way around the other side. As they drew closer to the colossal structure, Hyren glanced up and saw dark, hulking figures looking around in bewilderment, returning to their posts just as the Grundo and his companion slipped against the wall.

"Want me to send up another one?" Blynn asked.

"No, not here," Hyren said. As they inched along the stone, climbing onto a crumbling terrace built out over the cliff, Hyren began to hear deep, growling voices. He craned his neck to see firelight casting an orange glow on the thick rims of a set of tall, narrow windows.

Near one of the windows, a pile of crates and barrels had been casually stacked, and Blynn wasted no time in scrambling silently up them. Hyren followed, although his ascent was much more careful as he wasn't sure just how much weight the pile could hold. Thankfully, nothing broke under him, and he peered over the windowsill alongside Blynn, his antennae lowered to lessen his profile even though the moon had disappeared behind clouds again.

They were looking into an immense throne room, a great hall for some forgotten monarch whose kingdom had been swallowed up by the Woods. Unlike the underground palace of the Alxuin, however, this place was cold and utilitarian, holding no decorations except for a set of moon-and-paw banners on the walls, identical to the one outside. A fire blazed brightly in a pit in the middle of the area, and several spits were arranged over it, holding large chunks of meat. The floor was covered in furs, straw, and various scattered supplies, making the room look more like a beasts' den than the great hall it once was.

But that was all too fitting for the beasts that lived there now, Hyren thought as he espied hordes of furry monsters lounging around the hall. Many of them simply lazed about, while others sharpened weapons, or ripped into food with their oversized fangs. They wore cloaks of furs, primitive leather armour, and jewelry made from bones and teeth. Hyren didn't want to know where the Werelupes had gotten those. Two of them got into a spat, snarling and barking, exchanging a few blows before settling back down—with one of them having stolen the other's food.

"They're even nastier in person," Blynn said. "I've only ever read about 'em."

 _Enemy._ One of the Werelupes glowed red in Hyren's visor as he tagged it. Then another, and another. _Enemy, enemy, enemy._ His eyes darted around the room at an almost frantic pace as he searched for Terra, hot anger building in his nerves, his body preparing for battle.

He did a double-take when he saw a smaller figure huddled among a handful of the creatures. It was pale and brown-haired, and its hands were bound behind its back with thick rope. "Terra," Hyren breathed. His antennae twitched. A moment later the human's shape registered green. _Ally_.

"Terra?" Blynn asked. "Where?!"

Hyren nudged with his chin to the group of Werelupes amongst which the Zafara's owner was situated. Terra sat with her knees curled against her chest and head bowed, but she seemed unharmed, much to Hyren's relief.

The creatures around her laughed and talked loudly in harsh, grating tones. One of them, with a rust-orange coat of fur and a large scar over one red eye, reached over and poked a meat-covered bone at her face. She shied away, and the Werelupe guffawed in reply. He brought the meat to his own mouth and tore off a chunk, spittle flying.

Hyren had to dig his fingers into the stone to keep himself focused—and prevent himself from simply leaping through the window. Blynn's hackles raised, her tail lashing violently. Reaching over, Hyren placed a large hand on her back. "Not yet," he whispered.

He knew how she felt. He had to use every ounce of willpower he possessed to keep himself from swooping in to save Terra, but he and Blynn couldn't take down a castle full of Werelupes by themselves. And he also was well aware by now that every time he acted without thinking, something would collapse on him. He had to have restraint.

Suddenly, all of the Werelupes froze. Their ears perked up as they looked toward the large wooden doors that stood closed at the end of the hall. The doors had long since been battered in by some massive siege engine, but had been crudely repaired and painted in white and red with moon and pawprint symbols.

A moment later, they burst open with a reverberating boom that shook the stone Hyren and Blynn were clinging to. Terrible howls like roars echoed through the halls, and Hyren winced and tucked his antennae closer to his head in an attempt to block out the sound. His Zafara companion grabbed her own floppy ears and pulled them down over her cheeks.

"Make way!" Two Werelupes armed with jagged blades scampered into the room. "The King returns from the hunt!" they barked. The beasts already in the hall tilted their heads back and joined in the infernal chorus of howls, raising their horrid anthem of the night to the rafters. Terra ducked her head between her knees, unable to use her hands to hold her ears.

Through the doorway sauntered a Werelupe the color of shadow. He was larger and bulkier than the rest, and wore a bone necklace with an enormous tooth pendant resting on his chest. Atop his head sat a twisted sort of crown, fashioned from the skull of some fanged creature Hyren couldn't recognise.

The howls died down, the Werelupes' eyes seeming to glow with fresh flame as the newcomer passed down the centre aisle and around the firepit. When he reached the dais at the other end of the room, he climbed onto a cruel throne fashioned out of metal, wood, and bone, digging his claws into the armrests.

"Your king now holds court!" he barked, his voice like a winter wind whipping through a thicket of thorns. "What tribute do my thanes pay me?" The king surveyed the room expectantly.

Several Werelupes rose and began carrying objects forward, depositing them at his feet. "Rare Neggs from the Snowager's cave, Lord," one of them said, presenting the Neggs with a deep bow and looking up to see his ruler nod in satisfaction.

Another set down a cloth sack and unfastened the top, letting a rainbow glow bathe her muzzle. "Bottled Faeries, my liege," she said. "Balthazar sends his regards." The king nodded again.

To Hyren's horror, the Werelupe that had been teasing Terra earlier got up, pulled her to her feet and pushed her to the throne. "An _owner_ , sire," he said. "Captured near the Shrieking Dale just after moonrise."

A hush fell over the hall as the king tilted his head, his ears perking and a toothy, cruel smile spreading over his muzzle. "An owner, hm? You knew I had an eye out for one, eh?" The massive black Werelupe rose from his throne and crouched in front of the offering.

"Aye, Milord," his thane replied, puffing out his chest proudly.

The king snatched Terra's jaw with his thumb and forefinger, turning her face from side to side like he was inspecting a Petpet at the Trading Post. Finally, he let her go and looked up at the other Werelupe with an approving nod. "She'll do nicely," he said.

"Are you going to eat me?" Terra asked, her eyes wide. Her voice was so faint that Hyren barely registered it, and he strained to catch her every word, happy just to hear her speak again.

The Werelupe King quirked a heavy brow. "Eat you?" her asked. Tilting back his head, he let out a sharp, barking laugh, clasping his paws to his stomach. The other Werelupes joined him, and Hyren's heart thudded as the girl held a deep breath, her already pale face now entirely drained of color.

"No." The beast-king crouched back down, bringing his nose nearly to hers. She cringed and looked away. The Werelupe King cracked a fanged grin. "No… you are going to be [i]my[/i] owner."

"What?!" Terra said. "But I don't want to be your owner! What about my Zafara, she's still out in the Woods—"

"The ghosts have probably gotten to her by now," the king said, rising up and clenching one furry fist. "I will be your only Neopet from now on. Are we understood, _owner?_ "

Hyren felt the anger rise and roil inside of him, and he clenched the stone wall so hard that he thought it might crumble in his fingers. After a moment, he became aware of Blynn's eyes on him. He glanced over to see the Zafara regarding him with something akin to amazement. The Grundo felt his face heat up and he blinked, his antennae flattening against his head further in annoyance. With a wordless grumble, he turned back to making sure Terra was safe.

The lower-ranked Werelupe tilted his head. "What do you want an owner for, anyway, sire?" He asked, poking Terra's arm with one claw. "Not like you can do much with 'em."

"I don't think you could fully understand what I require," his king said, growing pensive for a moment. "She will be a valuable addition to my hoard. Take her up to the northeast tower." He sat back on his throne and cracked another toothy grin. "And now… we feast!" A clamor of wild cries rose up in response, and two other Werelupes sprang up and took the meat off the spits. The king plucked a Negg from his treasure pile and dropped it into his fanged maw.

The other Werelupe pushed Terra toward the doors, and then the two disappeared from Hyren's natural vision. His visor, however, was still tracking their biosignatures, and he watched them change direction and then start to ascend, obviously up a flight of stairs.

The commander suddenly became aware of moisture on his skin, and his great shoulders twitched and then shuddered. He turned around and sat on top of the pile of crates, resting his back against the wall and staring up at the sky. Dawn apparently had decided to call in sick, as the night was still black. And now the mist had risen around them, a chill breeze was picking up, and a light rain had set in.

Hyren grumbled again and tucked his arms to his chest sullenly. Even though his body was designed to have the environmental constitution of a rock, and the electronics in his armour were well-protected from moisture, he still hated rain. Water had no business falling from a planet's sky like that. It made things terribly uncomfortable, and he'd never forgotten that one invasion where he'd come down with a bad case of the Sneezles.

Blynn, meanwhile, seemed to be oblivious to his discomfort. "They're taking her up to the tower, that makes things a lot easier for us…" she muttered, stroking her chin with her finger as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Might not even guard her, but even if they do, a guard or two's nothing compared to a whole room fulla Werelupes…"

"What was that?" someone growled from inside. "Go check the window, I think somethin's out there."

A dot of red on Hyren's visor broke away from the group and approached where he and Blynn were hiding.


	14. Chapter 14

Hyren flattened himself against the wall, using his arm to sweep Blynn up against the stone. "Don't. Move," he breathed.

The two Neopets silently looked up to see a long, fanged snout poke out above them, sniffing the air. Hyren held his breath, hoping the wind and rain were enough to have already dispersed their scents—and that the Werelupe wouldn't think to glance down.

After a few agonizing seconds the muzzle withdrew. "Ain't nothin'," came the retreating reply. "Cursed wind makin' noise, is all."

Hyren exhaled, placing a hand on his chest. "That way," he said, prompting Blynn to sidle off of the crates in the direction of the cliff edge, which was hidden by a labyrinth of terraces and roofs. Craning his neck upward, he could see the sole spot of green in this red-infested hole, high above them to the northeast. A crimson dot was now descending—he probably didn't want to miss the festivities.

The Grundo and the Zafara picked their way around the castle's exterior, scaling broken-down walls and veering around patches of rooftop that appeared particularly unstable. Nearly all of the Werelupes seemed to be gathered in the great hall, but there was one stationary, unflagged neutral-orange biosignal far below Hyren's feet. Most likely a prisoner, Hyren guessed, but he was here for Terra and Terra alone. And all the while, the rain and wind were picking up.

"How did you know your ammo would explode like that?" the commander asked once they were well out of earshot from the Werelupes.

"A hunch," the Zafara replied with a shrug.

"You're more intuitive than you let on."

"Exactly."

The northeast tower turned out to be rather angular, and studded with narrow windows that were unfortunately far too small for Hyren to get inside. But he had another plan for them.

"Give me a second," he muttered to Blynn, reaching into his utility belt and pulling out a flat metal cylinder. On the rim was a plug, while a tapering metal shape resembling a flower bud protruded out the other side. "Hop on." Hyren gestured to his shoulder, and Blynn scrambled up. She perched on Terra's pack and rearranged it to make sure no rain was getting in.

Once the Zafara was settled, Hyren inserted the plug into a corresponding socket on his bracer. He fisted his hand, pointed his arm up at a window halfway to the top, and fired. From the cylinder shot a thin, black rope, a weave of artificial fibers developed by Sloth's techs to withstand far more in stress than a Mutant Grundo's weight. The "bud" bloomed into three prongs as it was sent sailing into the air, and when it reached the first window it caught on the rim and stuck.

"Proprietary Virtupets alloy," Hyren explained, fat raindrops spattering on his visor and streaming down into his mouth. "It digs into stone like wood." He gave a couple of firm tugs on the cable to make sure it had caught, and then he let out a grunt, kicked off, and began walking up the wall, the rope collecting back into its container as he went. Thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance.

The window was far too narrow for even Blynn to slip in while wearing her pack. Hyren hoisted himself up onto it, lodging one foot in the sill and gripping the edge with his free hand. "One more time," he told his passenger, leaning out and shooting the grappling hook at the substantially larger window near the very top of the tower. He grinned when the prongs landed and the green dot in his HUD moved. She was okay.

While they climbed, Hyren glanced below and his stomach tightened. A few Werelupes appeared to be dispersing from the great hall. He bit his lip and walked faster.

Before the commander could get a hand on the rim of the window, Blynn leaped off of his shoulder, vaulting over the stone and letting out a cry of ineffable glee.

"Blynn!" Terra's voice held the same sentiment.

Hyren peeked his head over the edge to see the owner and Neopet wrapped in a tight embrace. Terra's bonds were gone and she was kneeling on the stone floor of a small, barren room, clutching the Zafara to her chest like Blynn was water in a desert. "The ghosts didn't get you!" the girl said. Her cheeks were wet with fresh tears.

"Of course not," Hyren said with a lazy smirk, swinging one massive leg over the side of the window. "Do you really think I'd let that happen? Oh, and I believe these are yours." He had to unfasten her pack in order to squeeze himself through the window. He handed it to her along with her sword before climbing the rest of the way through and dropping to his knees in front of the owner.

"Thank you," she said, and before Hyren could do anything else, she wrapped him up in a hug as well, her arm barely reaching around his middle. The commander blinked in surprise, but smiled and leaned into her.

He let himself linger there for a moment before pulling away. "We need to get moving," he said, standing the girl up gently and giving her back her glasses. "The Werelupes are finishing with their feast and we have to escape before—"

A jagged spear of lightning turned the room white for one brief second, thunder crashing deafeningly a moment later. Terra screamed and huddled close to Hyren, and he put an arm around her shoulders.

Striding to the door, Hyren effortlessly kicked it down. "Let's just avoid the Werelupes and get out of here," he said. "You've put me through enough trouble for one day." He drew his sword and held it before him. Terra did the same, and he led them down the stairs.

Thunder raged around them, and rain sprayed into the tower windows, pelting Hyren's skin and armour, but no red dots approached as they spiraled downward. Finally the three reached a doorway that let out into a hall. To the left, the radar showed Werelupes—to the right, nothing. Hyren ushered Terra and Blynn that way, and they emerged in an empty antechamber.

"Keep going," Hyren said. He pointed to the door on the opposite wall, but saw red approaching and pulled them away. "Just kidding, let's go back—" His HUD alerted him to enemy units encroaching behind them and he froze again. He spun around and crouched into a defensive stance. Terra followed suit, while Blynn readied another piece of ammo in her slingshot.

"Aye, the meat was passable," one Werelupe said to another as they sauntered into the room, "but what I'm really cravin' is—"

With a mighty yell, Hyren launched himself at her, knocking her aside with the flat of his blade. Her companion snarled and moved to attack him, but Terra ran in and tripped the Werelupe up with a well-aimed swipe of her own sword.

"Run!" Hyren bellowed, sprinting at full tilt down the hall. His radar showed more red converging around them.

Werelupes burst from each door and around every corner, trying to cut them off in a flurry of claws, teeth, and blades. The creatures were strong, but clumsy, and Hyren's finesse with the sword was more than a match for them as he flung them aside.

Meanwhile, Terra's ferocity made up for her lack of strength. Many a Werelupe tried to move in on Hyren from behind, only to find themselves stung by her blade.

Blynn and her slingshot set off terrific bursts of light in the halls, sending disoriented Werelupes reeling and stumbling over each other. The explosions maintained a wide berth between the trio and their pursuers.

"Just how big is this place, anyway?" the Zafara asked. Her sprint was now reduced to a jog.

Terra wasn't looking much better, Hyren noticed from over his shoulder. But what really filled him with a sense of unease was the fact that the orange spot below was moving. It was moving fast. And the closer it got, the larger it seemed to become.

They turned a corner and ended up in the great hall, now deserted. The three approached the great closed doors as lightning stabbed through the night and thunder echoed on the mouldering stone. A commotion rose ahead, with shouts of "Stand back!" and "Don't let go of his chains!" On the other side of the doors, Hyren's HUD showed a mass of reds surrounding the orange, which was at least head-and-shoulders taller than any of them.

The doors were thrown open by a crimson-furred Werelupe with four arms, its face twisted into an expression of unthinking hunger. Teams of wary Werelupes clung to long, thick chains that shackled the beast at the wrists, and its tail whipped behind it as it fought the restraints. Its beady red eyes caught Hyren's gaze. The Grundo shuddered, but held his ground, steadying his sword in front of him.

"Oh, Kiko snot," Blynn muttered.


	15. Chapter 15

"Funny, I didn't invite you to the party," the Werelupe King said as he stepped out in front of the monster, ignoring its barely-contained thrashing to narrow his eyes at Hyren. At his side, he held a cruel blade infused with fangs and jagged bits of bone. "Tell me, what makes you think you can invade my domain and steal my rightful tribute?"

"I'm sure you've done worse," Hyren said, moving to take a swing at him. The king brought up his sword and parried the blow. The commander swept the blade around again, and the Werelupe twisted aside.

"Don't think you'll get the honor of dueling with me this morning, trespasser," the king said. "No, I have a better fate for you." His lips spread into a wide, eerie grin as he backed away. "Gnarfas here doesn't get a chance to come out and play very often. I think it's about time he had some fun." Glancing over at the Werelupes holding the beast back, the king gave a nod, and they released the chains.

Gnarfas let out a heart-seizing roar and charged. As the monster's steps shook the floor, Hyren glared up at him and broke into a run himself, aiming a strike at the beast's legs. The blade didn't have time to connect before Gnarfas batted the Grundo away, sending him flying. He smashed through a pile of crates, lying dazed for a moment. The Werelupe rushed him again, and Hyren brought up his feet and lashed out at him, kicking Gnarfas's muzzle aside.

That gave Hyren enough time to tumble out of the way, bringing up his blade toward the creature. Gnarfas howled in pain and staggered back, and in the brief pause Hyren saw the king grab Terra. Another Werelupe pounced on Blynn, tearing the slingshot from the Zafara's paw.

Gnarfas scrambled forward and swiped at Hyren, somehow able to keep all four of his arms working in eerie precision. The Grundo spun and wove through the tangle of claws. Occasionally they raked against his armor, but he managed to stay barely ahead of them. He had a plan.

"Milord!" the Werelupe holding Blynn said. "Shall I take them to the dungeons?"

"No," the king growled, gripping Terra like she was his entire kingdom. "I'm not letting her out of my sights again, since you lot are so incompetent."

"Why do I matter so much to you?!" Terra asked. "I'm not rich, or important! I'm just a kid!"

"I've wanted an owner for a long time," the Werelupe King replied, suddenly sounding old and tired. He snapped back to form a moment later. "Which is why Gnarfas is going to take care of your precious champion."

Hyren tried not to let their conversation distract him as he led the monster Werelupe toward the firepit. The commander deflected another huge paw with his sword, and used the momentum to drag the tip of his blade through the coals, flinging them up at his assailant.

Gnarfas yelped in pain, pawing at his own snout with one pair of arms while blindly grasping for Hyren with the other pair. It was easy for the Grundo to evade them and dive in for the Werelupe's legs again. His blow sent Gnarfas stumbling back, the beast coming to rest against the wall with two hands clutching a windowsill.

The Werelupe King emitted a low growl, his hackles raised and tail bushed. Still keeping an arm around Terra, he began to reach for his sword.

Hyren's chest heaved and his armour was slippery with sweat as he closed in for the finishing blow. As the commander raised his blade, Gnarfas ripped the stones he was holding onto out from the wall and lobbed them at the Grundo. They came too fast for Hyren to dodge—his armour's shields absorbed the brunt of the concussion, but he was still sent sailing. He landed against the opposite wall and crumpled. His sword dropped from his grasp.

"No!" Terra screamed. "Hyren! Get up!"

Head spinning, the commander gritted his teeth and felt for his weapon. Gnarfas lunged for Hyren again, snapping his fangs. The Grundo managed to grip the hilt and push himself to his feet. As he threw up his sword to block, Gnarfas's snout rammed into the flat of the blade, shoving Hyren back into the wall with such force that the stone shuddered.

Gnarfas planted all four of his claws into the wall around Hyren, pinning him. The Werelupe stared him down, saliva dripping from his maw. The commander grimaced at the monster's rancid breath and the emptiness within his eyes, and steadied his sword.

Terra elbowed the Werelupe King in the stomach. The king doubled over, and Terra used the distraction to wrench herself free of his grasp and sprint towards Gnarfas, sword outstretched. At the same time, Blynn bit the paw of the Werelupe holding her. The female barked in surprise and fumbled, giving the Zafara enough time to grab her slingshot and bound away.

"Gnarfas! Finish him!" the Werelupe King wheezed, holding his ribs as he chased after the girls.

Hyren stiffened. He pulled out his blaster and fired a few shots point-blank, but they did nothing—it seemed the stun effects didn't work on a creature this big. Gnarfas drew back his head and spread his jaws wide.

The commander heard a familiar snap, and then a "Whoops" from Blynn, and the floor beneath Gnarfas's feet collapsed. The monster's claws scrabbled helplessly on the rock for a moment—and then he was gone. A fissure started to spread through the rest of the stone.

"What did you do?!" Terra asked.

"I don't know!" Blynn replied, looking at her weapon in shock.

Hyren stowed his weapons and leaped across the swiftly growing chasm. He grabbed the girls under his arms and stumbled over jostled, uneven rocks, toward the doors. The crack extended to the walls, and the entire fortress rumbled with the sound of stone being shaken from its foundations.

"How dare you?!" the Werelupe King snarled, his eyes blazing. Raising his blade, he rushed at Hyren, but the floor gave out from under the monarch mid-stride. He gave one last sickening howl as he disappeared into the trench.

"Okay, _I_ didn't do it this time!" the commander said as he carried the girls into the entrance hall. The castle appeared to be almost crumpling in on itself. It was surreal to watch as doorways slumped in, and stairs twisted and heaved and finally broke apart like a child's building blocks being demolished. Werelupes were swept away into the abyss around Hyren with a horrific symphony of howls, but by some grace of the Faeries the Grundo's own footing was sure.

The front gate started to give way. Although his lungs burned, Hyren summoned every ounce of strength he could, and launched himself out the open arch, and he and his companions tumbled into the mud. Hyren sat up and looked back to see the cliff just behind them collapse entirely, taking the whole castle with it and leaving the three of them alone on the ledge.

He was shaking as he let the girls go and sat back on his heels at the new edge of the cliff, letting the grey morning rain pelt his helmet and stream down his armour in rivulets. Rain was really the last thing on his mind at this point. "I… I think I've fulfilled my quota of things caving in on me," he said, his tongue feeling like cotton. Blynn and Terra picked themselves up wordlessly, and the three simply sat there for a moment, dazed and relieved.

Their silence was cut short when Hyren was abruptly yanked back. Wheeling his arms to try to regain his balance, he looked over his shoulder. The Werelupe King glared at him, illuminated by a timely flash of lightning, fangs bared in fury and crimson eyes aflame. The king had hold of Hyren's bundle of Faerie weapons.

"If I'm going down… I'm taking you with me!" the Werelupe snarled.

"Hyren!" Terra stumbled forward and grabbed his hand. Blynn clutched Hyren's arm and dug her heels into the mud, but their strength combined was nowhere near a match for the weight.

The commander began to tip backward. With his free hand, he undid the knot tying the weapons cache around his shoulders and the rope whipped into thin air. Hyren twisted around to see the look of shock on the Werelupe King's face as, still clutching the bundle, he plummeted into the mists. A peal of thunder sounded a farewell knell.

Then Hyren hit the mud, the unexpected force sending Terra and Blynn sprawling. The Grundo staggered to his knees again, sputtering mud out of his mouth and wiping it off of his visor.

Terra wrapped her arms around his own thick arm. He could feel her shivering as the wind slapped her dripping wet cloak about her body.

Hyren gathered the two into a tight hug, trying to imbue some of his warmth to their small frames. "I love you guys," he said. He was done arguing with himself. He knew he could never turn them over to Sloth.

"You're the best friend we've ever had," Terra whispered through chattering teeth.

"Yeah, you're not so bad for a big, grumpy Grundo," Blynn said, clinging to his chestplate.

Hyren wished he could have stayed in that moment forever, but the cold and rain were clearly taking their toll on his companions. "Let's find some shelter," he said, standing up and guiding them back into the relative protection of the trees. True, he had no idea what might be lurking there, but right now it seemed a better option than continuing to endure the elements, and Blynn and Terra had gone most of the night without sleep. Even he was starting to feel the pull on his strength from how many days he had spent awake.

They ended up finding sanctuary in the immense hollow of an ancient tree, big enough to comfortably house even Hyren's bulk. There, they huddled together, the Zafara and her owner using the Grundo as a heat source while they listened to the storm move on to dispense its wrath elsewhere. The thunder faded, the wind died, and gradually they were left with only the splash of countless drops of water filtering through foliage. And all the while the world slowly lightened until the morning reached a filmy twilight, mist still brooding over the forest floor.

"So… what exactly happened back there?" Hyren asked Blynn. The Zafara's tail was curled around his arm and the tuft of hair on her head would have tickled his chin if her fur weren't soaked and matted.

She looked up at him wearily. "What?"

"When you shot at that monster Werelupe with your slingshot," Terra said, shifting under Hyren's other arm as she tried to dry off her glasses on her wet shirt. "And it made the whole castle fall down."

"I didn't know it was gonna do that," Blynn said. "I was trying to make fireworks again."

"Maybe it's random," her owner said. "I mean, it _is_ Faerie magic. That stuff tends to do its own thing."

"Maybe…" Hyren grunted. He thought for a moment. "What did you shoot?"

"I was aiming for his feet," the Zafara said.

"No, I mean, what kind of ammo did you use?"

"Um… I dunno, I just reached into the pouch without looking." Blynn held up one paw and rolled her thumb and finger together as if she was trying to remember the feel of a projectile in her hand. "I think it was one of the pebbles I picked up from the mountain. Would that matter?"

"Oh, I get it," Terra said. "You think where the ammo comes from has something to do with its magical effects."

Hyren nodded. "Exactly."

Terra placed a finger to her chin. "And the slingshot draws out the inherent magic in whatever gets used with it."

"Sweetness!" Blynn said. "I'm glad I got the slingshot, then! You guys can keep your crummy swords. I have to find more stuff to shoot and see what it does…"

"I could have handled the situation myself," Hyren insisted with a pout. His antennae twitched. "But… thanks for helping me out, there."

The Zafara shot him a cheeky smile. "Can't let you take all the credit."

Terra sneezed. "It's too bad we don't have a fire," she said, sounding rather miserable.

Hyren felt sorry for her, but there wasn't really much else he could do at this point. "No getting sick on my watch," he said with a chuckle, prodding her arm and making her laugh a little. "Once it dries up out there, we'll see if there's anything to burn. At least we still have the Fire Mote."

Blynn had set the lantern on top of their pile of gear and opened one of the windows, giving the three a view of a most abject little fire sprite who was not fond of this weather at all. The Mote hissed and sputtered, sulking near the bottom of the lantern rather than bobbing merrily like usual.

"Now get some sleep, the both of you," the commander said. His own eyelids were growing heavy, and he let out a mighty yawn that made his chest expand like a balloon.

"I'll try," Terra murmured, her eyes already closing.

"Let's hear another story," Blynn said.

Hyren snickered. "All right. I'll tell you about the time I found a moon covered in ice geysers. I was piloting a fighter, and I weaved my craft between the glittering sprays of ice as I skimmed close to the mirrorlike surface…"

As the three of them drifted off, in the back of his mind Hyren thought he heard a familiar beeping noise coming from the equipment pile, but he was so exhausted he paid it no heed and let himself slip into sleep.

He snorted awake some time later, startled by a mounting, rumbling whine overhead. He blinked, trying to remember why it sounded so familiar.

"Wow, what is that?" Terra asked, pulling on her glasses and rising to her feet to peer out into the Woods. The sound crescendoed and then began to fade.

"I hope it goes away soon," Blynn said with a yawn, scratching her belly. "I wanna get back to sleep."

Hyren's heart skipped a beat. "Starship engine."


	16. Chapter 16

"What's a starship doing in the Haunted Woods?" Terra asked. Oblivious to the tension, she continued to stare up at the forest canopy, while Blynn glared at Hyren suspiciously.

He took a breath and leaned forward, hooking an arm around the owner's middle and pulling her back in. "I don't have the time to explain," he said. He sat upright and stared hard into the girls' eyes. "Make a break to the east. Terra, use everything I taught you to defend yourself."

Hyren hated the idea of leaving them alone in the Woods. In spite of their weapons, the past night had taught him well why they did not relish coming here, especially if they were deeper in than usual. But he hated the thought of bringing them with him, straight into the jaws of danger, even more.

"Why?" Terra asked. "Why can't you come with us?

He felt a fresh surge of guilt. He didn't know if he would ever be able to bring himself to tell her just how much he'd misused her trust. "I have to go back to where I belong," he said, letting go of them to get up and stretch the lethargy out of his legs. "I'm sorry. I've gone as far as I can with you." It would be easy to invent an excuse for why he didn't have the promised prisoners. Hopefully his return alone would be enough to please Sloth. Although at this point he found he didn't care nearly much about pleasing Sloth as he used to.

"Well—then—can we come with you?" the girl asked as she and Blynn shouldered their packs.

Hyren shook his head as he pulled on his armour. "Absolutely not. Out there's no place for you." He swallowed hard as he heard the roar of the engine return and then start to downshift. "Go! Get out of here!" He pulled them out of the hollow just in time to hear the crunch of boots on dry leaves.

Before the two could take off, a pink Aisha stepped out of the trees—no, an _Alien_ Aisha, Hyren realised upon seeing her extra set of ears. "Ah, there you are," she said, looking the commander and his companions up and down.

"Sorry I missed your call," Hyren said, raising a hand in greeting. "Been having an interesting time of things planetside."

She tossed her long mane of white hair and holstered her blaster at her hip. "I was starting to wonder if I'd ever find you. Dratted foliage, it's like looking for an Orbulon in an asteroid field," she sniffed. "Well, it's nice to finally make your acquaintance, Commander. I'm Sophix II. Currently employed by Sloth as a scout, and whatever other odd jobs he'll pay me for."

"You're a mercenary, then?" Hyren asked. "So that's why I haven't heard of you."

"Hah!" Sophix leaned casually against a tree. "All right, so I'm certainly nowhere near as notorious as Ylana Skyfire. But I'm also no wide-eyed conscript." She reached up and preened one of her ears. "I'm guessing these are the prisoners you mentioned in your report."

"Y—yeah. Yes." Hyren gritted his teeth. Caught red-handed, he had no other choice now but to bluff his way through this. "A Neopet and an owner," he said. "All right, let's go, you miserable wretches," he grunted, picking Blynn up and grabbing Terra's wrist in his other hand, dragging her forward.

Terra gaped at him in shock. "W-wait, what?!"

Hyren felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. But he'd have to let her genuine emotion to carry his façade. "You didn't honestly think I was ever on your side, did you?" he asked with a vicious grin. "I was just using you to escape the caves."

Blynn stared hard at him, her eyes scanning his face. "You're lying," she insisted. Hyren did not let himself so much as twitch. After a few more seconds, the Zafara's expression broke and she shook her head in disbelief. "No! You can't—why are you doing this?!"

"Silence, you little pest!" the commander barked.

"Let's just say, you're going to have a whole new outlook on life once we get you to Sloth," Sophix sneered, tilting her chin and narrowing her eyes at the captives. "You'll see just why nobody's worth your trust."

Blynn bared her fangs. "Why don't you take a trip outta airlock without a spacesuit, lady?!"

Sophix raised an eyebrow at her and then glanced up at Hyren. "You let them have weapons?" she asked.

"There was a cave-in and I needed their cooperation to escape," the commander said. "From there, it was easy to convince them that I'd gone soft."

"Well played," Sophix said. "Shall we set off? All of this planetary atmosphere is ruining my hair." She inspected a few locks pitifully before turning back to the woods.

"Heh, I'm glad I don't have to worry about hair," Hyren snickered as he followed the scout.

"And I'm glad I'm not a walking mass of Sloth-green muscle," Sophix said. "I'm surprised there's room for any brains in there."

Her ship, a sleek transport made of gleaming black metal with red and silver accents racing down its sides, sat in a nearby clearing. "Really, I'm amazed they heard from you after so long," Sophix said as the gangplank extended to meet them.

"Give me some credit," Hyren replied, taking his prisoners up into the hold. "I didn't become a commander for nothing."

"Not to hear the other commanders tell it." Sophix folded her arms and relaxed against the hull. "Word is, Gormos says you're just another one of Sloth's experiments, to see what would happen if he made a mutant a CO."

"He's jealous," Hyren grumbled. "Do you have a holding cell?"

"Of course, right over there. Want me to take their gear?"

"No, let me do my job," the Grundo said. He looked down at Terra and Blynn. "Your weapons and packs. Give them to me." He didn't trust Sophix to not loot them.

The Aisha held the girls at blasterpoint while they handed their things over to Hyren. "I don't understand…" Terra whimpered. "I thought… back there…"

"Plans have changed," Hyren grunted. He shoved them into a small alcove and activated the containment field, trapping them behind a translucent orange wall of crackling energy. "Rest while you can," he said with a sneer, turning away and trying to forget the looks of uncertainty on their faces.

The Grundo stowed their equipment in the cargo hold, hiding their weapons in their packs. He then made his way to the front of the ship and flopped down in the co-pilot's chair. Sophix's hands swept over her control panel and the craft eased into motion, rising past the treeline. In a matter of seconds they were above the mist that eternally wreathed the Haunted Woods, and soaring through the blue skies of Neopia. A few moments more, and that blue began to deepen and intensify, fading into the black of space.

The receding curvature of Neopia hovered outside the windows, and Hyren watched it with a swelling sense of elation at being out in the cosmos again. Every time he landed on a planet, he felt bound, restricted. Out here, it felt like he had room to grow.

But this particular world held the memory of an adventure shared with the best and only friends he'd ever had. He couldn't help but feel a pang of loss leaving it.

"Interesting planet, that," Sophix said, flicking a few switches.

"Huh?" Hyren blinked out of his thoughts and glanced over at her.

"All blue and green and _alive_." She sniffed. "Must be dreadful to live in a place with so many unknown variables. I mean, they have _weather_ , for galaxies' sake!"

Hyren wondered if he used to sound this obnoxious. He leaned back in his chair. "It's not so bad, once you get used to it."

"Hmph. Being planetside so long seems to have addled your brain," Sophix said.

"Not as much as it seems to have addled your hair," the commander shot back, making the Aisha roll her eyes. He drummed his fingers on the sides of his seat, trying to establish when would be the optimal timing to sneak away. "Got any rations I could have?" he asked.

"The warp won't take that long," Sophix said, resting her feet on the dashboard and pulling her retractable holopad from the pouch at her hip.

"I know, but I'm starving," Hyren said, hoping he wasn't sounding unrealistically whiny. "Can't a guy have breakfast?"

"Fine, fine. I've got some Protein on the Go bars in the hold." Sophix jerked her thumb back, her eyes trained on her device.

The Grundo swung out of the chair, listening to her grumble about spoilt and bellicose officers as he made his way back through the ship. The art of making himself unlikeable was one he felt he had fine-tuned.

Well, except in the case of two particularly stubborn life forms. Terra and Blynn were clinging to each other behind the wall of energy as Hyren approached, their faces buried in each other's shoulder. Their cell left them little room to do much else.

"I thought he was our friend," Terra sobbed.

"I'll get us outta here," Blynn said. "And then I'll string that traitor up by his toes."

The girl squeezed her pet tighter. "But how could he betray us like that?"

Hyren crouched down in front of the cell with a gentle smile. "He didn't."

The two turned and looked at him in surprise. "What?" Terra whispered, her cheeks wet with tears.

He held up his hands in a halting gesture. "Don't touch the energy field," he warned them. "It's designed to detain prisoners and that's just what it does." The Grundo lowered his voice and glanced around to make sure there weren't any surveillance devices nearby. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen, but she caught me off guard and I had to think of something on the spot. Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Terra said with a nod.

"Well, this isn't exactly the Royal Neopian," Blynn said. "How do we know we can trust you this time, _Commander_? You've like, quintuple-crossed us by this point. I'm getting really tired of the emotional roller coaster."

Hyren grinned self-consciously. "I know. I'm sorry," he said again. His smile faded. "Blynn, look at me. What's your intuition telling you?"

He held still so the Zafara could study his face. Her deep blue eyes scanned him for a long moment, and then she sighed and leaned back to her owner. "… That I can trust you," she said. "I'm… having a hard time believing that, though."

"And I don't blame you," Hyren said. "But I'm not sure you have much of a choice right now. I can get you girls home, but I need you to trust me. I'd… like you to trust me," he added. "I know things have been weird and confusing these past few days, but I really do care a lot about you two. I'm just sorry it took me so long to realize that."

"I believe you," Terra said. She glanced over at an incredulous Blynn, then back to the Grundo. "I want to trust you, Hyren," she said. "I want to be your friend." She chewed on her bottom lip. "I don't like what Sophix said back there about nobody being worth trusting. I think people can change—and I see a lot of good in you, Hyren. I just want you to be okay, and if you say you're sorry, then I believe you." The owner gave him a hopeful smile. "I want to keep believing in you."

Her Zafara thought for a moment, then turned to Hyren with a frown. "But, 'sorry' means you're not gonna pull any of this funny stuff again. Got it?"

"Of course," Hyren said. One part of him was incredulous that they were so forgiving. But that was what this cynical old galaxy needed, he thought. And he would never let the light that shone within him be devoured by the darkness. He shifted his weight. "Once we reach Sloth's flagship, I'll get you onto an escape pod and set the coordinates for your home planet."

"But… what about you?" Terra asked.

"I still work for Sloth," Hyren said, his shoulders sagging. "I'm glad I met you guys. Really. And I'll never, ever forget you." He swallowed hard—why was this so difficult to say? "But this is my home, out here. I'm an independent Neopet." Antennae drooping, he hung his head. "Besides… you wouldn't want me around, anyway. Not after everything I've done."

"Of course we would," Terra said. "You're always welcome with us." She looked aside, then back to him. "I meant it when I asked if I could adopt you. And I still want to."

Hyren sighed. "It just wouldn't work."

Blynn tilted her head. "Don't get all mopey on us now!" she said.

"Yeah, I'm the only one allowed to do that," Terra said with a teasing smile, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

The commander chuckled. "I appreciate your friendship. I'll… I'll try to stop by Neopia whenever I can," he said. "Maybe we can have lunch at Grundos Cafe one of these days."

Terra nodded, although her smile now looked a little more forced. "I would like that."

Hyren let out a breath and clapped his hands on his thighs, pushing himself to his feet. "Okay, I have to go. I told Sophix I was getting something to eat, and if I stay any longer it'll look suspicious. Hold out for another hour, all right?"

"You got it, chief." Blynn gave him a smart salute. "We await further orders."

He snickered as he turned away. "You guys are the best." Inside, the pain and fear of being separated from them was eating at him, and it took everything in his power to convince himself that he was doing the right thing. He was beginning to feel like the right thing should seem more natural. He wished he had Blynn's uncanny intuition. Instead, his emotions just made everything more complicated and he never felt like he could trust them.

Then again, the previous times he'd tried to shove them away, things hadn't worked out well. He supposed he should probably learn from that.

As Hyren plopped back down in his seat, Sophix said, "Took you long enough."

The Grundo unwrapped the Protein on the Go bar and shoved a bite in his mouth. Bland as always, he thought, but he did need the nutriment. "Would've helped if your hold didn't look like a unit of Rotawheels threw a party in there," he said. "You're not very good at keeping tidy, are you."

"Can it, meteor-brains," Sophix huffed.


	17. Chapter 17

They emerged from warp, and the first thing Hyren saw was the _Triumph_ blotting out the stars, a gleaming behemoth of a command ship covered in lights and bristling with armament. Its hull contained wide swaths of windows, many of them lit. The _Triumph_ carried the population of a small city—including countless test subjects in its depths. All in all, the vessel couldn't help but command respect, Hyren thought. He wondered what Blynn's and Terra's reactions would have been to seeing it from the outside.

They were headed for a different view, though.

"This is the _Artful Xepru_ , requesting docking," Sophix said to the ship's comm system.

" _Artful Xepru_ , please dock in Hangar B-45," came the robotic reply.

"I've brought Commander Hyren back from Neopia," the Alien Aisha said.

"Please dock in Hangar B-45. Thank you."

Sophix scowled. "You mispronounced 'You're getting a big bonus for that, Sophix.'" There was silence on the other end and she threw up her hands. "Ugh, stingy. Am I right?"

Hyren folded his arms over his chest. "You're a mercenary, not a commanding officer. There's a large difference in pay rate."

She stuck out her tongue at him. "At least I'm not the one who got lost planetside for eight months."

"Oh, yes, just imagine what that would have done to your hair."

The Aisha clutched her long locks defensively. "You leave my hair out of this, you lout," she said.

Inside the hangar was a bustle of activity Hyren remembered fondly, a mix of robot Petpets milling about and Neopets typing on holopads as they hustled to their next assignments. Large screens on the walls displayed scrolling feeds of timetables and diagnostics of all the craft in the landing bay. Occasionally, commands and information boomed over the loudspeakers.

Sophix brought the _Artful Xepru_ down as Hyren went to fetch his "prisoners" from the hold. "Okay, keep quiet and do as I say," he whispered as he deactivated the force field and handed their packs to them. He knelt down and scooped them into his arms for an all-too-brief moment. "I have a plan."

Just as the mercenary emerged from the front of the ship, Hyren picked Blynn up by the scruff of her neck and curled his other hand around the back of Terra's shirt, making it appear as though he was in the act of dragging them out. "Sloth will enjoy experimenting on you pathetic creatures," he snarled, bringing them down the gangplank.

"And I'm going to enjoy my paycheck," Sophix said, sashaying past him into the hangar and giving him a curt wave over her shoulder. "I'm off to the cafeteria for a Milkyway Shake." Her pink tail swayed behind her as she made her exit.

Hyren squeezed Terra's shoulder affectionately. "Get an eyeful of this place while you can," he said. "It's really pretty amazing. Space Station Number Four, the one orbiting Neopia, doesn't hold a glowrod to the _Triumph_."

"Yeah, I believe it," Terra said, craning her neck as she looked around.

The commander snorted loudly, asserting his presence and signaling that he was entering professional mode. "I hope you're ready to meet his Supreme Overlordship," he said, a wicked grin cracking his expression.

"I'm ready to give him a good kick in the face," Blynn said, folding her arms.

"Commander, sir!" A familiar voice caused Hyren to turn around. A yellow Grundo wearing a Virtupets uniform scrambled toward him, wide-eyed. "It's wonderful to have you back!" the little communications officer said.

The Mutant Grundo looked the smaller member of his species up and down. "Hello, Reebitz," he said.

"I must say, your survival after the invasion of Neopia is the stuff of legend!" Dothan said, his antennae flapping enthusiastically.

"Uh-huh," Hyren replied as he steered Terra toward the doorway leading to one of the ship's many corridors.

"I would really like to hear more about it when you get the chance!" the communications officer said, trailing after them. "You know, sir, you're a real inspiration to me!"

At this, the commander turned around and stared him down so coldly, Dothan visibly flinched. "Well, I shouldn't be," Hyren said. Lips thin, he continued walking, a Neotrak beeping in apology as it swerved out of his way.

"Is—is there anything I can get for you, sir?" the yellow Grundo asked from behind him.

Hyren sighed and glanced back at the officer. "Why do you work for Sloth?" he asked.

"Beg your pardon?"

They reached the lift and the commander leaned against the doorframe as he waited for the car to reach their level. "What's keeping you working for Sloth?" he repeated. "Why do you think it's so great?"

Dothan scratched the side of his face. "Because… because Master Sloth is strong," he said. "And _you're_ strong."

Hyren frowned. "I'm not particularly strong, Reebitz," he said. "I just know how to get a job done." The lift door opened and Hyren escorted Terra in. "But if there's any reason why you should idolise me," he said to the officer, who remained outside, "it's because I've learned to think for myself." He keyed in the level he wanted and deposited Blynn on the floor as the door slid shut, separating the three of them from Dothan's look of confusion.

Blynn rubbed the back of her neck. "Sheesh, I know how to walk for myself," she said. "What was with him? Talk about a sycophant…" She glanced up at Hyren, who remained stoic and silent. "You doin' okay, big guy?"

Hyren let out an irritated snort and made the slightest gesture with his chin toward the security camera in the corner.

"Oh." Blynn folded her arms behind her back and rocked back and forth on her hind paws, clearly trying to look innocent and not like she had a rapport with her captor.

They rode up and up, slowly approaching the command deck. Occasionally the lift would stop to let in a Neopet or two, or a robot Petpet. Hyren and his companions got a few curious stares, but none of the Virtupets workers said anything, and the 'bots seemed to disregard the presence of organics entirely. None travelled more than a few floors before disembarking.

"There sure are a lotta robot Petpets here," Blynn said during an interval when they were alone. Hyren remained silent, one hand on the hilt of his sword and the other on his blaster. He would have loved to give the girls a more congenial tour, but now wasn't the time.

"Well, Virtupets probably built a lot of the ones in the Space Station shop," Terra pointed out. "It doesn't surprise me that there would be even more further out in space. They seem pretty useful."

The doors opened again and a Cuttlebot floated in, warbling electronically and swerving toward the control panel beside the door. The panel's digital display changed to read "Gamma 34", five levels up. The Cuttlebot then settled its mechanical tentacles together and positioned itself in front of the three, watching them with blank blue eyes as the lift resumed its ascent.

"Ooh, neat," Terra said, leaning forward with interest.

"I haven't seen that one at the Robo-Petpet Shop," Blynn said. She reached out and poked the 'bot's black casing, causing it to bob gently in midair. The Cuttlebot's eyes flashed and it curled its tentacles, letting out an annoyed whistle and drifting away from her, nearer the door.

Hyren sneered. "Pitiful Neopians," he said. "Of course you would be curious about the highly advanced technology you keep resisting in your pathetic attempts to stave off Sloth's forces." Terra glanced up at him and he winked down at her.

She watched the Cuttlebot as the lift reached level Gamma 34 and the 'bot slid out into a busy corridor. The doors closed again and Terra stood back, kicking at the metal-plated floor with the toe of her hiking boot. "I mean… I'd think it was cool if I wasn't a prisoner," she said. "Yep."

"We're almost there," the commander grunted out of the corner of his mouth. He hardened his features, staring straight ahead at his stony reflection in the polished doors. His mind was in turmoil as he ran over his plan again and again, trying to smooth out every wrinkle and account for every probability. This would work. He would make it work.

The lift stopped, the console display reading "Command Bridge". As the doors parted, Terra and Blynn stiffened. To Hyren, the sense of foreboding was almost palpable. This could go right—or it could go very wrong for them all.


	18. Chapter 18

Taking a deep breath, Hyren ushered them out into a long, high-ceilinged hallway with windows on both sides. Mutant Grundos in full powered armour similar to his own, but painted in black, silver, and crimson, stood motionless at regular intervals, cradling blaster rifles. At the far end of the hall was a large door emblazoned with the Virtupets logo.

"Oh wow, look at that," Terra said as they marched along. She pointed to one side of the hallway. Visible outside was a spiral galaxy, softly gleaming like a pearlescent cosmic blossom wreathed in oil-dark, light-absorbing clouds. Several smaller satellite galaxies hovered nearby, suspended in their eons-long dance around their gravitational governor.

"Man, space is neat," Blynn said.

Hyren had to make do with allowing them a moment of pause to take in the ethereal scene before pressing them onward. "Don't speak unless spoken to," he muttered, directing his words mostly at Blynn.

The doors opened in anticipation of their arrival and the commander escorted his "guests" into the expansive bridge of the ship. Large screens covered the walls on either side of them, and situated everywhere were banks of computers and consoles, staffed by Neopets wearing uniforms and headsets, occasionally accompanied by a robot Petpet or two. The far wall's vast semicircular curve was taken up entirely by an enormous holographic map displaying numerous star systems and the movements of Virtupets troops and their enemies.

On a platform jutting out past the edge of the upper terrace, over the abyss beyond, stood two figures. One, a hulking, dusky blue Blumaroo in bronze and black armour, had his arms folded behind his back as he conversed tersely with the other. This second entity was clothed in a long black cloak, a dark hole on the hologram-blue backdrop.

Both of them paused and turned to watch as the Grundo commander brought the owner and Neopet forward. Doctor Frank Sloth hadn't changed at all from the last time Hyren had seen him, although now looking upon his master's face brought Hyren agitation instead of devotion. Suddenly promises of glory felt so empty.

"Master Sloth, sir." Hyren saluted. "Forgive my tardiness."

Sloth looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. "It's been difficult to find a replacement for you, Commander." His voice was deep, steady, and quiet, the sort of quiet that suggested he did not have to speak loudly to make people listen to him.

The Blumaroo next to him snorted. "I offered to take up command of your contingent, but it seems I am to be denied even that privilege." He stared up at Hyren coldly and the Grundo glared back.

Sloth glanced over at the other officer and raised an eyebrow. "Show me enough competence in directing your own troops, first." Garoo's red eyes narrowed and he let his gaze falter.

Hyren held himself rigid as Sloth inspected both him and the girls for a few moments. Inside he was roiling with anger at the other commander, but their spats could wait until they were out of their master's eye. In the side of his vision he could see Garoo watching, glaring contemptuously.

"Well," the green-skinned doctor finally said, folding his arms in an almost patronizing manner. "It seems you've picked up some baggage, haven't you."

For a split second Hyren wondered if Sloth had seen past the mask into the Grundo's own mind, but then he realised the doctor was speaking in physical sense, not emotional. "It turns out Neopia isn't a totally worthless planet, after all," he said.

"Of course not." The ice in Sloth's tone, minute as it was, was still enough to send a stray shiver up Hyren's back. "If it was worthless, I would not want it."

That was a bad slip. Hyren had to make up for it quickly. "I brought you test subjects." He gestured to Terra and Blynn, who were watching Sloth and Garoo with apprehension, but thankfully held their tongues. "Have you experimented on Zafaras yet?"

"Hmmm." A malevolent gleam formed in Sloth's eyes as he leaned forward to inspect the two. "An owner… I already have plenty of those, but I suppose one more couldn't hurt… but no. No Zafaras yet." He withdrew, cracking a broad-toothed grin. "Nicely done, Commander. You certainly haven't lost your touch."

Hyren put his hand on Terra's shoulder—she was shaking. "I'll take them down to the lab for you," he said.

"Oh, no need, I can get a 'bot to do that," Sloth replied, waving a hand. "I wanted to speak to you about your next assignment."

 _So soon?_ Hyren thought with anguish. Of course he couldn't expect a break.

"Urgh…" Terra suddenly stumbled forward, clutching her stomach.

Sloth withdrew, and he and Garoo gave her a look of alarm. "What's wrong with her?" the doctor snarled, clutching his robes in disgust.

"Space… sick…" Terra moaned, putting a hand over her mouth. "Too much… Beef Rouladen…"

Hyren grabbed her by the shoulders and steered her away from Sloth. "I'd better get her down to the cell blocks," the commander said, Blynn nodding fervently in agreement. "Wouldn't want any nasty stains on your cloak, sir."

"Please do," Sloth said, regarding Terra like she was a Mutant Warf who'd been digging through garbage.

"I'll come back straightaway." Hyren shooed his prisoners back through the command room and out the door, leading them swiftly down the hall.

It wasn't until they were in the lift again that Terra dropped the act. She straightened back up and gave Hyren an impish grin as she and Blynn bumped fists in a gesture of victory.

"Good thinking," Hyren said, and she winked at him in response.

He took them down further than the hangar levels, and as they descended, fewer and fewer Neopets and robot Petpets shared the lift with them. Glimpses outside the doors started to reveal dimly-lit corridors and worn-down machinery rather than the immaculate gleam of the upper levels. The pets and 'bots looked similarly downtrodden.

"Welcome to the underlevels of the _Triumph_ ," Hyren said after the departure of a tired-eyed Nimmo tech. "On a ship large enough to be its own city, even Sloth's officers can't patrol everywhere at once. It's also where his test subjects are kept. Get used to the smell—you'll be living here for a long time."

He turned toward his human companion and lowered his voice. "Kick me," he said.

Terra blinked up at him. "What?"

"Just do it."

"O… kay…" Pulling her leg back, she aimed a swift kick at his shin.

He could barely feel the blow past his armour, but he howled dramatically and staggered back. "You little beast!" he yelled, pretending to fumble for his blaster. "How dare you?!"

Blynn caught on a lot faster. "Take us back to Neopia right now!" she screeched, launching herself at his head and beating at his helmet with her fists. Her owner clung to his leg, making him teeter off balance.

"Gerroff!" the commander growled, clutching the Zafara's pack with one hand. The fact that she had chosen to plant herself against his visor conveniently enabled him to appear as though he couldn't see where to aim his blaster. He nudged her aside just enough to get the security camera in his sights. One pull of the trigger and it was smoking, the lens shattered and the electronics fried.

The three paused in the middle of their spectacle, and then relaxed, laughing. "Man, that was awesome!" Terra said, letting Hyren have his leg back.

"We gotta do that more often," Blynn said, scrambling up Hyren's visor to perch on his head, holding onto his antennae like reins. "Where to now, chief?"

"Ow… watch the antennae, they're sensitive," Hyren said, wincing as he holstered his blaster. Blynn loosened her grip and he showed them into a grimy hallway filled with refuse. Only half the ceiling panels were lit, and one kept blinking and flickering. Just looking at it was starting to give Hyren a headache. "There should be a bank of escape pods on this level," he said, heading down the hall and watching his HUD for signs of life. "I'll get you into one and set the coordinates for Neopia."

"But what about you?" Terra asked. She did a double-take at a pile of scrap that turned out to be the battered chassis of a nonfunctional N-4 Info Retrieval Bot, its large ocular sensor dark and blank. "Won't you get in trouble for letting us escape?"

The Grundo shook his head. "That doesn't matter. I'll be fine, don't worry about me." He offered her a smile. "You'll see me again. I promise."

The owner slipped her hand into his. "I sure hope so. I don't want you getting hurt because of us."

"You sure make a lotta promises," Blynn muttered from atop his helmet, giving one of his antennae a warning yank.

"Only ones I intend to—" Hyren paused as green began to show up on the edges of his bio-radar. One, then two… three… way more than three.

Blynn's upside-down face appeared on the other side of his visor, her floppy ears swaying. "Hyren?"

He didn't respond right away. The color scheme of his radar was so engrained in his mind that it took him a moment to remember that in this situation, green meant _bad_. A more prominent blip showed up, tagged "Commander Garoo".

"Run," Hyren said. "We've been discovered."

"We're not leaving you!" Terra said, pulling on his arm.

"I'm going to throw him off your trail," Hyren said. "I'm a more important target than you. Now go!" He lifted Blynn off of his head and deposited her next to her owner. "The escape pods are down the hall and to the right. When you get in, set the coordinates for 3T8-0M5, got it?"

"3T8-0M5," Terra repeated under her breath. She and the Zafara exchanged glances, and then looked back up at the Grundo. "We'll never forget you, Hyren," she said.

"Same here," the command replied, placing a hand to his heart.

"Good luck, chief." Blynn gave him a smart salute, and then they turned and ran.

Hyren didn't wait to watch them turn the corner. His eyes welled with tears as he gripped the pommel of his sword and dove down an intersecting corridor heading the opposite direction. Seeing them again was a promise he didn't think he could keep.

He took as convoluted a route as possible, manoeuvring past piles of trash and buckling infrastructure and watching in his HUD as Garoo and his forces bore down on Sloth's errant commander. The mass of green split into several groups, all still converging on him. Garoo must have been getting frustrated, the Grundo thought with satisfaction. Hyren was counting on the Blumaroo's pride to make him want to focus on the glory of taking down a high-ranking traitor before worrying about some random Neopet and owner. It appeared to have worked.

Finally, Hyren stumbled through a doorway and into an abandoned room littered with empty Achyfi cans. Against one wall stood a dusty computer bank, several of its blank screens cracked or missing, frayed wires poking out of the casing. There were no other exits.

He took a deep breath and pulled out his sword, the runes catching the sickly green-white artificial lighting. "I'm gonna miss you," he sighed to it before lowering himself into a ready stance.

Moments later, Garoo and a host of his strike troops skidded into the room, blasters out. "You know, I should have expected this from a Grundo," the Blumaroo said, stalking toward the commander. "It was a mistake for Sloth to elevate you to such a high position."

"Are you sore about Sakhmet?" Hyren asked, spinning the blade in his hands. "Because I heard that was your fault." Garoo let out an enraged snarl and fired. Hyren deflected the blast with the sword, sending the bolt fizzling into the wall. "Going to have to do better than that, _Commander_ ," the Grundo said.

"You're just one of Sloth's experiments," Garoo said. "You don't think he ever saw any value in you past that, did you? You're expendable."

"We're all just his experiments," Hyren growled, tightening his grip on the hilt. "I decided to make things a little more interesting for him."

The Blumaroo chuckled darkly. "Oh, he'll be interested, all right. And I'll get your troops."

"You abandoned me at Sakhmet!" Hyren said. "You knew I was still alive, and you pulled out without me!"

Garoo scowled. "Of course I did! I was tired of waiting around for something to happen to you! And you would have done the same thing, eventually!" He leveled his blaster. "Now, will you come quietly, or do I get to use force?"

Hyren smirked. "Have I ever come quietly?"

"Open fire!" Garoo bellowed. His unit let fly a hail of blaster bolts.

The Grundo gave a savage roar, leaping forward for a downward blow at the nearest strike trooper. The impact flattened the soldier, and Hyren swung the blade around to slash at the others. Trying to stay out of his range, they stumbled away like they were trying to escape a ravenous beast. Blaster fire rained down on his armour, overloading his shields as he cleaved through Garoo's forces. His HUD blinked orange and then red, his helmet screaming the alarm of imminent critical failure, but Hyren fought like a pet possessed.

His armour sparked, hissing out smoke, and his HUD went blank. Immediately the barrage of blaster fire became painful and he knew his shields had failed. And yet he fought on. Catching sight of Garoo's astonished face, Hyren gave him a crazed grin.

"What are you doing, you fool?!" Garoo sputtered. "Don't you know when to give in?"

Hyren grabbed a trooper with one hand and threw him to the other side of the room where he crashed into the computer bank, making the decrepit machine cough up sparks. A blaster bolt seared into the Grundo's leg and he wobbled and collapsed to his knees, still taking swings at anyone within reach of his blade.

A few more shots splintered his pauldrons and stunned his arms, forcing him to relinquish his hold on his sword. Hyren heard one last piercing cry from a blaster before he finally shuddered and fell forward, enveloped in blackness before he even hit the floor.


	19. Chapter 19

Hyren woke to the sensation that he had been dreaming but forgot what the dream was about. Honestly, he was surprised even to find himself awake, albeit sore all over. He blinked his eyes open and realised he was in a standing position, his arms stretched above his head. Trying to move them met with resistance, and he looked up to see his wrists shackled to the wall. He was still wearing his armour, although it was in terrible shape and his visor had several holes blown in it from blaster fire. Cracks spread across the clear, blank plate like Spyderwebs, making it difficult to see his surroundings.

He was in a very small room—no, a cell. The walls were dark and bare, and something mechanical hummed distantly below him. A few metres in front of him, a containment field sizzled red.

Looking down, the Grundo saw that his utility belt and blaster were missing. His sword was also gone, and he bowed his head in a moment of silence. Garoo had probably appropriated the weapon, and that close-minded idiot didn't deserve it. Not to mention it reminded Hyren of all of the adventures he'd gone through with his two best friends. _Space Faerie, if you're out there, get them home safely,_ he thought.

Hyren stood there sagging under his own weight for what felt like hours, listening to the sound of his own slow breathing. There was no way to tell time in the cell. His HUD once had a chronometer, but his armour had sustained so much damage, it would never work again. At least Terra and Blynn were headed home, he reminded himself. It didn't matter what happened to him now.

Finally, he picked out the sound of approaching footsteps, heavy and deliberate. He lifted his head to see a black-cloaked figure pause on the other side of the containment field and lean over for a retinal scan. The field dissolved, and Dr. Sloth sauntered in, arms folded behind his back.

He stopped in front of Hyren, somehow managing to look down his nose at the Mutant Grundo even though Hyren was a head taller than him. Neither of them said anything for a long time, sizing each other up.

"Well." Sloth finally broke the silence, his voice flat and quiet as the space before a supernova. "This is a surprise." Amusement danced in his crimson eyes, though his face remained neutral.

"Why did you leave me at Sakhmet?" Hyren asked, pushing himself forward. "I conquered numberless worlds for you! Did you even look for me?!"

The doctor remained unflappable, even with their faces centimetres apart. "I gave you everything you needed to carry out my orders," he said. "If you fail me, it's your fault."

"But it _wasn't_ my fault!" Hyren said. "Garoo doublecrossed me!"

Sloth seemed unimpressed. "So it was your fault for being naïve. I did not mourn your loss. I made you, commander. Do not insult me by insinuating I cannot mold someone else to suit my needs."

Hyren gritted his teeth. "How did you know to come after me?" he asked. "What tipped you off in the security feeds?"

Sloth turned and looked at him sidewise, arching an eyebrow. "I haven't looked at the security feeds. It was the light in your eyes, Hyren. The way you carried yourself, the tone in your voice. You've changed." He frowned. "I don't like it."

"Eight months planetside can do a lot to a guy," Hyren said, still glaring at the doctor. "And if you're going to ask if I want my job back, forget it. I'm through invading."

Sloth lowered his eyelids. "I wasn't going to ask. I don't tolerate these kinds of misdemeanors from my top officers. You knew better." He began pacing back and forth in front of the Grundo. "You lied to me, you aided in the attempted escape of test subjects, and you resisted capture by Garoo." Sloth stopped and looked up at him. The scientist's face tilted downward, sunken into shadow so that his eyes glittered like hot coals in the darkness. "Did you think that would save them?"

Hyren felt his stomach twist. "They got away," he said. "They're probably halfway to Neopia by now."

Dr. Sloth smiled. It was a wide, oily smile, and it sent chills down Hyren's spine. The doctor reached into one of his draping sleeves and pulled out a very familiar lantern, opening it and dumping out a disoriented Fire Mote that rolled weakly around the floor. "No, they're not," he said.

The Grundo's breath caught in his throat and he wheezed like he'd been hit in the chest. "No…" he choked, forcing air into his lungs. "No!" Clenching his fists, he struggled against his shackles and felt them strain under his strength, but they did not give. "You leave them alone, Sloth!" he roared. "They've done nothing to you!"

Sloth dropped the lantern and it clanged harshly against the floor, making Hyren's antennae flinch. "On the contrary," the doctor replied, "they deprived me of one of my elite commanders. I've been having so much fun thinking of ways to experiment on them." He grinned viciously. "Maybe I'll let you see them again, someday. That would be amusing, wouldn't it?"

Hyren leaned back against the wall, his chest heaving and head spinning. "You're a monster," he said.

"Funny how that didn't matter to you until now," Sloth said. "I've learned some interesting things from observing you, Hyren. You've greatly expanded my knowledge of Grundo psychology and military skill under mutation. Now, however… it's about time I used you for experiments of a different sort."

He retreated back toward the doorway, his cloak billowing behind him. "I do hope you enjoy your stay in the laboratory," he said. "I'm looking forward to interesting results from your testing procedures." The doctor re-activated the containment field once he was out. "You could have lied, you know. Said they escaped you or something. What stopped you from making up an alibi?"

"I'm not going to grovel at your feet for forgiveness," Hyren spat, antennae lowered in irritation. "After everything I've been through, I'm not going to betray my friends for you. They deserve better than that. You no longer have my loyalty."

Sloth widened his eyes, and then bared his teeth, his nostrils flaring. "You're an idiot," he hissed. Then he calmed himself again and gave Hyren another slick smile. "I'll be back soon," he said. "Things are about to get very interesting for you." With that, he turned and swept out of Hyren's view.

"Blast it," Hyren grumbled, watching the Fire Mote sputter as it searched in vain for something to combust. The Mote found its way to his bare foot and nestled up against his ankle. The tiny fire sprite was pleasantly warm, especially compared to the lifeless coldness of the rest of the cell.

"Sorry you had to end up here, too, little guy," Hyren said to it. Actually, he thought as he observed it, maybe being cellmates with a Mote wasn't such a bad thing. Slowly, he began to piece together bits of a plan. It wasn't much, but as long as he was still going, he could still fight.

"I'm going to throw you," he whispered to the Mote. Clenching his fists, Hyren lifted his aching legs off the ground, scooping the fireball up between his feet and ignoring the strain in his wrists. "When you reach the containment field, flare up and short it out, and then return to me, all right?" He curled his knees to his chest, and then kicked forward with both of his legs, letting go of the fire elemental and propelling it across the cell.

It smacked into the field with a shower of sparks and bounced down to the floor. The energy wall fizzled more furiously for a moment, but then went back to normal. The Mote spun nearby, looking disoriented.

Hyren sighed, a gnawing feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. He was out of ideas. He slumped against the wall again, watching the Mote dizzily make its way back to him. "It's okay. At least you tried," the Grundo said. " _I_ tried." His chin trembled and he ducked his head, letting the tears fall. He had tried so hard to do what felt like the right thing, and he had failed. Worse, he had failed his friends. And he still had a headache.

He stood there for another period of time that could have been minutes and could have been days. Hyren decided that this had to be Sloth's most insidious torture method, making his prisoners go mad in timeless isolation. Was this what eternity felt like? And all the while, Hyren couldn't stop thinking about Terra and Blynn. He cursed both his vivid imagination and the fact that he was too familiar with the nature of Sloth's experiments.

After the longest wait, Hyren looked up at the security camera in the corner. It was tilted at such a jaunty angle that it almost seemed to derive amusement from watching him succumb to despair. "I know you can see me, Sloth," Hyren said. "I don't know whether you're watching this live or if it's being recorded while you're in the lab."

He shifted his weight, the shackles tight against his bracers, making them chafe his wrists. "I know it's useless to plead for my friends. You don't care. And you're probably going to look back on this and laugh. So I won't waste my words. But I will ask one last request of you: remember me as someone you gave everything to, and he threw it all away and never looked back." Hyren flashed a lopsided, slightly deranged grin. "Let that keep you up at night wondering which one of us is sane."

With that, he closed his eyes and tilted back his head, listening to the sound of his own calm breathing. He had resigned himself to his fate. But try as he might, he couldn't do the same for his friends. The very thought was too sickening.

A tremendous burst of multicolored sparks suddenly filled the doorway, making Hyren jolt back to attention. His heart slammed in his chest and his adrenaline spiked painfully, and he shut his eyes tight against the light. When he opened them, the field was gone, the framework dented in and the emitters blackened and smoking. "What in the galaxy…" Hyren muttered, blinking to try to clear the afterimages from his vision.

"Gotta love those fireworks shows." A familiar voice echoed in from the hall.

Hyren's antennae perked and he froze. "Blynn?!" he called, scarcely able to believe what he was hearing.

Terra was the first one to emerge through the smoke, sword in hand as she shielded her face with her sleeve. Blynn followed close behind, blowing on the tips of her slingshot like the muzzle of a blaster. Both of them looked a little grimier than when he had left them, but unharmed, and Hyren couldn't wipe the shock off of his face as he felt a planet's weight of worry fall from his shoulders.

"Hyren!" Terra ran to him and hugged him around the middle. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine—I was so worried about you!" he said. "You're not hurt, are you? How did you escape from Sloth?!"

Terra gave him another squeeze as if to reassure herself that he was really there. "Huh? What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Hey, how'd my lantern end up here?" Blynn asked, scooping up the Mote. "It fell off my pack when we crawled into that air duct…" She looked up at the Grundo. "Man, we're always getting you out of messes, aren't we?"

"I'm happy to see you, too!" Hyren laughed, the relief making him slightly giddy. "Sloth was bluffing? That miserable oaf! What are you two doing here? I told you to get in an escape pod, you little rascals!"

"C'mon." Terra folded her arms and gave him a sly smirk that seemed too reminiscent of his own. "Did you really think we were gonna leave you like that? After we split up from you, we headed for the nearest ventilation duct and made our way through the ship."

"But how did you track me?" Hyren asked.

"The nose knows." Blynn tapped her olfactory orifice. "I followed your scent. Plus, everybody's talking about you out there!"

Hyren blinked. "They are?"

The Zafara nodded. "We kept overhearing Neopets say stuff about how the great Commander Hyren went rogue and Garoo captured him. They mentioned what level you'd been taken to. That helped a lot."

Terra eyed Hyren's shackles, far out of her reach. "Let's get you free from that wall," she said. "Do you mind if I climb up you?"

"You can slap me silly and call me a Blueberry Fish Pop," Hyren replied, "so long as you're out of Sloth's clutches!"

The girl grinned and nodded, sheathing her blade. "Fair enough." She dropped her pack, grabbed on to his chestplate, and began lifting herself up to his shoulders. "Oof…" She managed to crouch on one of his pauldrons, placing her hands on his helmet for support.

"Don't look down," he said. Sure it wasn't too much of a height, but the hard floor still had the potential for injury if she landed wrong. And in his position, he couldn't catch her.

"I can do this…" she whispered to herself as she slowly stood up on his shoulder, letting go of his helmet to draw her sword. Hyren grimaced as she wobbled, but managed to keep herself balanced. "Okay," she said. "On the count of three, you pull against the shackles and I'll strike. "One, two… three!"

At her command, Hyren yanked his wrists forward, and Terra brought the blade down with a yell. Sure enough, the bonds snapped against the combined forces of Mutant Grundo strength and Faerie-tempered steel, and Hyren took a half-step forward to steady himself.

Terra, however, lost her footing from the force of the strike and tumbled from his shoulder with a yelp. Hyren twisted around and caught her in his arms before she hit the floor. "Are you okay?" he asked, setting her down.

"Yeah," she said, stowing her blade with shaky hands. She smiled up at him. "Yeah. I'm okay. I got you free, that's what matters."

"You did great." He patted her head, although the moment was marred by a sudden, strange twinge of nausea. It couldn't have been the Protein on the Go bar, that was too long ago, he thought.

"All right, let's blow this joint!" Blynn said, hooking the lantern back onto her pack.

"Gimme a sec," Hyren grunted, removing his helmet. "This armour's not much use any more." It could still protect against physical attacks adequately enough, but that was barely a fraction of its capabilities when functional. And he was tired of looking like he still worked for Sloth.

"We don't got all day, chief!" the Zafara said, poking her slingshot out at the hallway. "Pretty sure that explosion's caught somebody's attention by now!"

"You're right," Hyren said. "Hang on." The armour would be bearable enough, but the cracked visor was driving him crazy. Holding the helmet in front of him, he cleanly punched out the remnants of the glass, shaking out stray shards before jamming the headgear back on. "Okay, I'm good. Why have you been calling me 'chief' lately, anyway?"

"Sounds cool," Blynn replied, bounding back out into the corridor.

The hallway was long and lonely, with only a few stray doors along the walls. Cameras dotted the ceiling, but considering the little disturbance Blynn had caused earlier, stealth wasn't a priority anymore. "We're in Sloth's maximum-security cell block," Hyren said as he slipped out of the cell. "Which makes me wonder how you two even managed to get to me in the first place."

"We have no idea," Terra replied with a shrug. "We've been crawling through the air ducts and stuff, and avoiding guards and 'bots. Maybe we're just really sneaky."

"It's hard to be sneaky in the presence of bio-radar," Hyren murmured. "Unless…" He blinked, and then chuckled. "Of course! Back when my armour was functional, I'd tagged you two as allied units, and the tag stuck when my armour reconnected to the ship's network! No wonder no one's thought to apprehend you!"

Terra laughed. "Way to think ahead!"

"Well, I wasn't really thinking _that_ far ahead at the time." Hyren scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I hope you gals have a plan to get out of here."

"Of course we have a plan," Blynn said. "It's called 'run as fast as you can for the escape pods'."

"Yeah, we might need a slightly better plan than that. Let's move." He shooed them down the hall.


	20. Chapter 20

"I hope you know where you're going," Blynn said as they turned a corner into a larger corridor. The halls were empty—for now. As soon as someone realised Hyren had been sprung, security would be all over them.

"I've spent a lot of time on this ship between deployments," Hyren said. "So I know my way around it. The closest bank of escape pods is on the next level up." The ventilation ducts were all well and good for his two small companions, but there was no way he could fit in them.

He stopped them at a small, nondescript door. "I'm pretty sure I know where this goes," he said. Thankfully, it wasn't locked, and it opened into a large, unoccupied office space filled with tables and chairs, as well as a few exotic potted plants collected from various planets. "From here, I think there's a hallway we can take to—" Hyren's antennae perked at the sound of heavy boots and clanking machinery. He looked up to see a large set of doors on the other wall slide open.

A squadron of armoured Virtupets troopers and robot Petpets poured in. "We've sighted the hostiles," a blue Lupe soldier muttered into her comm, her tail swishing vigourously. "Neutralizing." She and her unit trained their weapons on the escapees.

"Was this part of your plan?" Blynn asked, reaching for her slingshot.

The troopers answered with a rain of blaster fire.

"Terra, your sword deflects blaster bolts," Hyren said. "Time to take it for a test run."

She ducked behind him and raised her blade just in time for a blaster bolt to ricochet off the metal, leaving a fading spot of orange heat. The recoil jerked back her arms and made her wince, and she blinked in shock before steadying herself for another incoming shot.

Blynn curved herself around a blaster bolt, backflipped to avoid the next, and waltzed around three more. The Lupe officer snarled and unloaded a few more frustrated shots at the slippery Zafara. Blynn merely swerved past them and gave her a taunting grin.

Hyren seized the nearest table and heaved it into the crowd of troopers. A panicked shout rose for just a moment. It was cut short as the table struck, knocking four flat and throwing several others off-balance in a moment of chaos.

Blynn nocked a potsherd in her slingshot and fired. The resulting light show sent their assailants stumbling back even further, the troopers shielding their eyes and the 'bots sparking at the seams. "The pebbles don't work here," she explained to Hyren. "I already tried it. They only work on stone, I think."

The Grundo picked up a chair in each hand and lobbed the furniture at the soldiers. One chair sent two troopers sprawling, and the other slammed into a robot Petpet. The 'bot lost its footing and stumbled into the Lupe officer, and she let out an angry yelp, the wind knocked out of her.

His Zafara companion fired off more shots, but for every trooper and 'bot knocked back, several more advanced from the hallway. "Oh, crumbs," she suddenly muttered, sifting around in her ammo pouch. "I'm out of potsherds."

"Use the pebbles anyway!" Terra said, cringing as a blast got past her sword and singed the sleeve of her shirt.

The Zafara nocked a stone and let it fly. It simply clattered against the nearest Mutant Grundo Trooper's helmet, not making him so much as twitch as it reflected off his armour's shields. "No dice!" Blynn said.

"Fall back!" Hyren said, positioning himself in front of them. The three began to edge away.

"Not such a great idea, chief!" Blynn said. "More behind us!" Heavy, hurried footsteps clanged on metal flooring.

"Wonderful," Hyren groaned. "Well, stand your ground, then!" He picked up another table and held it in front of him by one leg, feeling it jolt and shudder as blaster fire ripped into it.

A mighty yell rose up from behind their foes, and a flood of Neopets and owners crashed into the troopers and robot Petpets. Soldiers were tackled to the floor, their weapons wrested from their grip and used to disable the 'bots. The motley mob rushed toward Hyren, Blynn, and Terra, and the Grundo cringed, expecting the worst.

"Don't shoot!" a female voice yelled from the throng. "They're with us!"

To Hyren's amazement, the Neopets and owners started firing _past_ them, not _at_ them. The rebels veered around them to storm the forces in back of the trio. Two Neopets and a girl with long black hair remained behind. "Go! We'll catch up with you!" she continued.

"What's going on here?!" the Grundo asked, completely flummoxed.

She turned, and Hyren jerked back in shock to see the owner whose home he had invaded during the Sakhmet operation. Her green Techo and purple Scorchio stood nearby, eyeing him warily as though he might attack them again.

"Someone disabled the security systems for the entire cell block levels," she said, looking him over curiously, her eyes wandering to Terra and Blynn. She seemed older than Terra, but not much taller, and carried herself with more sureness—and a blaster.

Hyren wondered if she remembered him, although he knew he looked a far cry from the day of the battle. "You're…"

"Baojia," she said with a nod. "And you're the guy who broke my door."

"Yeah…" Hyren muttered, glancing aside. "Sorry about that."

The owner snorted, placing a hand on her hip as she cradled her blaster in her other arm. "Apology accepted."

"How did you know we weren't going to attack you?" Hyren asked her. "We could be working for Virtupets."

"Well, first of all, the kid and the Zafara aren't wearing uniforms," Baojia pointed out with a smirk. "And news spreads fast here, especially when it's something as big as a turncoat war hero." She paused. "Plus, we were asked to find you."

Her Scorchio approached Hyren. "The Neopet who set us free requested we give this to you," the Scorchio said, unlatching the belt of a very familiar claymore from off her back.

Hyren's face lit up. "My sword!" He set down the table, which had been making his muscles ache strangely, to receive the weapon.

She handed it up to him. "He told us to tell you that he knows now why you're his inspiration," she said.

The former commander blinked. "Was he a yellow Grundo, by any chance?" he asked.

Baojia's Techo nodded. "Yeah. He was."

Hyren fastened the scabbard around his waist, its weight comforting against his leg, and he smiled as he drew his trusty blade. "Heh. If you see him again, tell him I wish him all the luck in the galaxy."

"We will," Baojia said. She smiled at Terra, who waved shyly in return. "Hello, there." The owner glanced back up at Hyren. "I'm sure there's an interesting story behind this."

"Yeah." Hyren rubbed his arm. "But now's not the time for storytelling."

Glancing over her shoulder, Baojia tipped her blaster at the horde of Neopets and owners who stumbled back into the room toting more weapons and victorious grins. "We're overrunning this ship and kicking out all the Virtupets goons," she said.

"Sloth got away, though," the Scorchio said. "We were hoping to capture him."

"He's a slippery one," Hyren said. "He's smarter than to go down with his ship."

"You're going to help us, aren't you?" Baojia asked him, tilting her head. "We could really use you and your family." She looked over at Blynn, who had wandered over to the stunned troopers and disabled robot Petpets. The Zafara was in the process of collecting stray bolts that had fallen from the 'bots, putting them in her belt pouch.

The Grundo grimaced. "They're not my—" He sighed. "I will. I owe you all that much. And that's probably my best bet for keeping them safe." He looked down at Terra. "What do you say, are you up for it?"

She clenched her fist. "Yeah! Let's kick some tail!"

"That's the spirit!" Baojia said with a laugh.

The group of rebels returned. "Well, they won't be bothering us for another few hours," a Gelert panted, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. "Enough time to drag them into cells. So this is the guy?" He and the others crowded around Hyren and Terra curiously as Blynn hopped back to them.

"Yep," Baojia replied. "Hyren and his family are with us. What's our next plan of action?"

"We need to head for the bridge," a male owner spoke up. He moved forward with his Tuskaninny. "Everyone else is sweeping through the ship and converging there. Once we secure the command deck, the _Triumph_ is ours."

Hyren nodded. "Roger." He turned to his young wards. "Okay, let's…" Another wave of nausea surged through him, causing him to clutch his stomach. His eyes bulged as he doubled over, trying to catch his breath. "… Let's go," he gasped when it passed, pointing his sword to the door ahead. In spite of his pain and discomfort, it was exhilarating to be leading forces again.

"You're not okay," Terra said as the group made their way past stunned troopers and disabled 'bots. By now the ship's alarm system was going in full force. Red alerts flashed around them, and frenzied commands blared over the intercom.

"It's probably indigestion," Hyren replied with a comforting smile. Since when was his sword so heavy, though? Swallowing hard, he pushed the pain and fatigue to the back of his mind. "The bridge is this way!"

"Take care of yourself!" Blynn said as they neared a large door at the end of the corridor.

The door slid open and they ran out onto one of the decks of the multi-leveled bridge. The underside of Sloth's command platform, where Hyren had initially taken the girls, stuck out high above. The many terraces beneath were filled with computer banks, control consoles, and smaller holographic displays which complemented the immense map that made up the far wall.

The area had been thrown into chaos. Escapees fought Virtupets troops and robot Petpets on the levels below, while shouts, weapons fire, and the solid clunk of armour sounded from above. Hyren stepped back from the edge as someone's blaster was sent hurtling down from an upper deck.

Baojia and her rebels began firing on the Virtupets troops on the next terrace down. "Follow me to the upper levels!" Hyren commanded them. "We have to take out the officers first!"

He staggered back to rest against the wall for a moment, trying to catch his breath. What was wrong with him? He hadn't exerted himself nearly enough to feel winded like this. _Hang in there,_ he begged his body. _I just have to make sure they take the ship._

"We're not outta the water yet, chief!" Blynn said.

The Grundo pushed himself away from the wall, clinging to his sword with both hands. Another group of Virtupets forces moved in from the hallway ahead. Mutant Grundos and Virtupets officers held their blasters at the ready, while Ultra Pincerons hovered in their ranks, claws snapping. Beside them, Scout Units with blaster attachments marched authoritatively.

And leading them was a very familiar Blumaroo. Garoo now wielded a sword of his own, a thin, curved blade. "I've been waiting for this," he said. "Open fire!"

"Stay together!" Hyren barked. "Defensive formation—get behind me!" The rebels crowded in back of him, trying to pick off troopers with scattered blaster shots. The last thing he wanted was to engage Garoo in a swordfight right now, when Hyren was feeling ready to pass out. But that seemed to be what the commander was intent on.

Summoning the last of his strength, Hyren managed to lift his blade again. He felt Terra back against him and he glanced down to see her trembling, frowning in determination as she held her own sword out. Blynn crouched at their feet, gripping her slingshot. Weapon held at the ready, Garoo began to advance his troops.

"Terra." Hyren coughed, his vision swimming. "If… if I don't make it out of this… I just wanted to let you know… I would have loved to have had you as my owner."

Baojia let out a grunt as she was hit and collapsed, stunned. Her Techo held her while her Scorchio picked up her blaster and continued to fire. Garoo gave an enraged roar, breaking into a run.

"You've always been a part of my family, Hyren," Terra replied shakily.

Hyren closed his eyes. He knew from the sound of her voice that she was crying. "If something happens to me," he said, "take Blynn and run."

"I'm not leaving you," Terra said.

Hyren opened his eyes and took a deep breath. He wasn't going down a coward, and he was going to do everything in his power to protect his two best friends. "For Neopia!" he roared, raising his sword and charging.

"For Neopia!" the rebels answered in unison. They let out battle cries of their own, and Terra's blade flashed beside Hyren's.

His final thought before the two forces met was that maybe they'd call this "The Last Charge of Hyren the Indomitable".


	21. Chapter 21

Hyren brought his sword back for a sweeping strike and it clanged against Garoo's weapon. The two locked blades, clashing and withdrawing in an intricate dance as blaster fire flew around them. Both their eyes blazed red as the two titans faced off.

The din of battle seemed to mute as Hyren poured all of his focus onto Garoo. He watched each twitch of the Blumaroo's muscles, trying to stay a step ahead of every strike, knowing Garoo was doing the same with him. They exchanged blows and blocks at breakneck speed, their blades a blur in Hyren's eyes. He was the better swordsman—that and adrenaline were the only things keeping him matched with Garoo right now, considering his physical condition.

The Blumaroo twisted his blade and Hyren expected it a moment too late. The Grundo's sword flipped out of his hand and he withdrew with a hiss, dropping to one knee.

Garoo pointed his own weapon at Hyren's chest. "I've been waiting… a long time… for this," the commander heaved, his face twisting into a malicious grin.

Hyren swallowed hard, sweat stinging his eyes. His headache had come back with a vengeance. He couldn't even see Terra and Blynn any more, and his sword lay just out of reach. He bared his teeth at the Blumaroo, daring him to do his worst.

He heard the ping of metal striking metal. Past Garoo, the eyes of one of the Scout Units flashed green, and it turned and began firing on its own troops.

Garoo's shields flashed as he was hit and he staggered forward. "What's going on back there?!" he barked.

Something small and shiny flew past Hyren and he heard another ping, and then an Ultra Pinceron's red eye turned green. It grabbed two Virtupets soldiers, hoisting them into the air and dragging them off.

Several more 'bots were hit and let out static warbles as they, too, turned and attacked the troopers. The soldiers yelled in alarm and confusion, and the rebels staggered back, rather confused themselves.

Hyren seized his chance. Grabbing his sword, he pushed himself to his feet and swung at Garoo. The Blumaroo recovered from his shock and parried. But he was distracted now, Hyren could tell as they fought on. Garoo's mind was elsewhere just enough that his motions were ever-so-slightly mistimed. As the commander brought his blade in, Hyren swung his entire body out of the way, using the momentum to whip around and deliver a powerful kick.

He caught Garoo square in the stomach, and the force of the blow knocked the Blumaroo off his feet. The officer tucked into a roll and popped back up with a snarl. Before he could prepare for another strike, Hyren was on top of him.

"Keep waiting," Hyren said as he smacked Garoo in the head with the flat of his blade. The commander crumpled. "Charge!" the Grundo yelled hoarsely, motioning the remaining rebels forward and further into the fray. With their commander fallen and their own 'bots had turned against them, the attackers were in disarray, and Hyren's forces quickly gained the advantage.

Barely before Hyren knew it, the troopers either lay prone or had been carried away, and all of the non-rogue robot Petpets were disabled. The green-eyed 'bots dispersed, the Scout Units clomping back into the hallways and the Ultra Pincerons floating up and down to other levels.

Gasping for breath, Hyren turned back to his allies. While many of them had been stunned, there were still a good number standing, picking themselves up and assessing the damage to their equipment. Hyren had taken his fair share of hits, being by far the largest target among them, and now that the rush of battle was gone, he was starting to feel the pain ebbing in.

"T… Terra!" Hyren choked, scanning the scene. "Blynn!" He dreaded seeing them among the fallen.

"Hyren!" Terra called out. She stumbled her way toward him, Blynn close behind. Both of them looked frazzled and exhausted, and Terra was limping, but they were up, thank the Faeries.

He held them close with one arm. "It'll be all right," he said.

Terra hugged him back. "We did it," she breathed. "I'm so glad."

"So _that's_ what the bolts do," Blynn said. "Wicked."

"Good… good thinking," Hyren panted with anod.

Baojia's Scorchio approached them with a weary smile. "Thanks… commander," she said. "We'd have been toast without you."

He glanced up at her, having a hard time focussing his vision. "Yeah."

"We're winning!" the Gelert from earlier said, leaning over one of the consoles and watching the skirmishes below. "The rogue 'bots are helping!"

"Attention, Virtu- _dweebs!_ " a high-pitched voice squeaked over the intercom. "This ship now belongs to the owners and Neopets of the free galaxy! Next stop: Neopia! And you're all getting a nice welcoming party from the Faerie Queen—I'm sure she'd love to have a little chat with you!" A cheer rose up in reply.

Terra let out a weak hoorah of her own, raising her fist and then letting it fall limp. "Blynn, how did you think to hit the robots with their own bolts?" she asked, leaning against Hyren's shoulder.

The Zafara winked up at her owner. "Intuition."

Hyren struggled to stand, placing a hand to his head as he used his other hand to steady Terra. "The nearest med bay is ahead and to the left…" he panted as the conscious rebels began to pick up their companions. He glanced down at Blynn with a smirk. "I have to admit, for such an annoying little pest, you sure… ugh…" The nausea returned in full force and the world spun around him. Unable to keep control of his limbs, he fell to the floor, his sword flying from his grip.

"Hyren?" Terra cried. "Hyren!"

"I told you you weren't okay!" Blynn said as the two leaned over him.

"Wh-what's going on…" Terra stammered, her face pale.

The Grundo let out another series of coughs as pain wracked his body. "I… I don't know," he admitted.

A dark chuckle boomed from the intercom. "I know you can hear me, Hyren," a deep voice said. The ambient light from the wall map suddenly changed color from peaceful cyan to stark white.

Hyren took in a shuddering breath and turned his head. In the place of the map was now a giant image of Sloth, seated in what Hyren recognised as the doctor's personal shuttle.

"Ah, there you are. Did you really think you were going to get off that easily?" Sloth asked, looking quite pleased with himself.

"What… are you talking about…" Hyren wheezed.

"Did you really forget what I told you all those long ages ago?" the scientist asked. "The day you renounce your loyalty to me would be the day you draw your last breath."

"I'm fine," the Grundo insisted. "I can… get patched up… in the med bay…"

"You think I'm talking about your battle wounds? No, this is something else entirely." Sloth paused, seemingly to make sure Hyren was paying attention. "It was an ingenious addition to your personal mutation, if I say so myself." The doctor studied his fingernails absently. "A failsafe trigger, surreptitiously inserted into your genetic code." He looked back at the camera. "If you were ever to vocally forsake me, the trigger would activate, and…" He snapped his fingers. "Your body would shut down. I'm surprised you held out this long, really. You had more endurance than I estimated."

Terra stood and leaned over the edge, her arms shaking with rage. "You fix him right now, Sloth!" she screamed. "Do something—save him!"

Sloth's image was so oppressively large that it was hard to tell whether or not he was looking at her. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't, little owner. He's too far gone, now. Don't waste your breath on him." The doctor grinned. "I must say, Hyren, you were an interesting experiment, but all experiments must reach their conclusion." He sat back in his seat. "I'm going to enjoy watching your final moments."

"Rrrrraaaghhh!" Blynn screeched, hopping up on the console and firing a spray of pebbles at the screen. They fell far short of their mark, rattling down on the floor below. "You slimebrain!"

Terra turned and knelt next to Hyren, lifting his arm and pressing his hand to her cheek. "You feel cold…" she whispered, her eyes glassing over with tears.

The Grundo struggled for breath. "I'm so sorry, Terra." It wasn't fair, he thought. He'd finally found something that gave him real joy, finally found people he cared about and who who cared about him in return, and now it was getting ripped away from him. How would he protect them now?

"Hm? What is it?" Sloth suddenly glanced past the camera at something. "What… what is _she_ doing here?!" he snarled. "Ugh, don't let her—" The image blipped out and the communication abruptly ended in a fizzle of static.

"Don't leave us," Terra pled, tears splashing on her glasses and dripping onto Hyren's armour. "Please… we need you…" Blynn approached and draped herself over his chest, watching him in wide-eyed devastation. Even she finally seemed somber, her ears drooping and tail limp.

"I love you guys," he said, his voice barely a whisper. Terra let out a sob and pressed her face into his hand.


	22. Chapter 22

Hyren closed his eyes, feeling his breathing slow. All of a sudden, he vaguely discerned a murmur of activity above. There were voices, excited voices, and he picked out the word "Faerie" a few times. Opening his eyes again, he saw a gentle, deep blue glow begin to fill the command deck, and he thought he glimpsed stars on the ceiling far above.

"What's happening up there?" someone shouted from beside him.

"Space Faerie!" another Neopet said from above. "The Space Faerie's here!"

"A little too late!" the rebel shot back.

"She says she's gonna help get us back to Neopia!" someone else said.

Terra looked up as well. Her lips thinned and she gave Hyren's hand one last squeeze before letting go and staggering to her feet. "M-miss Space Faerie," she called out, shaky and raw. She cleared her throat and steadied herself. "Miss Space Faerie! Come here, please! We need your help!"

The light intensified, and a figure gracefully stepped off of the top terrace and floated downward. As she approached, Hyren felt a soothing coolness throughout his body.

Terra shuffled aside as the source of the light landed next to her. It was a tall, slender woman with lustrous copper skin, bright red eyes, and neon-blue hair. Her star-covered legs faded into a vague mist before reaching the ground. A pair of gossamer wings fluttered at her back as she looked over the rebels.

"Lady Mira," Hyren breathed. He had never seen the Space Faerie in the flesh before.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, her voice husky and velvet.

"We really could've used your help," the Tuskaninny said, "for the past, I dunno, eight months?"

"My apologies," Mira said. "Sloth usually has his capital ships cloaked from my magic. When the cloaking suddenly went down on his flagship, though, it stuck out like a supernova and I knew I had to investigate." She glanced around and smiled. "Besides, it seems as though you've done a fine job here, yourselves."

"Miss Space Faerie, please save our friend!" Terra blurted, dropping back to Hyren's side. "He's—he's not gonna make it! Please, ma'am, I know he used to work for Sloth but he's good now!"

The Faerie's eyes dropped to meet his and her eyebrows rose. "Ah, Commander Hyren," she said. "This is an interesting turn of events, is it not?"

Hyren gritted his teeth as pain pulsed through his body once more. "Spare me… the small talk…"

"Can you save him or not?!" Blynn cried.

Mira knelt next to Terra, her brows pinched in concentration and her voice low and quick. "Hyren, I have the ability to undo the trigger and save your life," she said. "But it will mean having to reverse your mutation and restore you to your original form. Furthermore, if you ever attempt to take on the form of a mutant again, your genetic structure will destabilise entirely and you will not survive. Do you still wish me to do this?"

The Grundo looked at the imploring faces of his two best friends. It wasn't all that difficult of a decision to make. "Yes," he said. "Please, Milady. I just want to be with them… and continue to protect them."

Mira bent over his body, placing one gloved hand on his forehead and the other on his chest. "Then it shall be done." She closed her eyes and extended her wings, and her glow enveloped Hyren.

His eyelids shut and he saw stars, a sea of infinite stars, all singing some celestial aria, an ode to the universe. Galaxies thundered their cosmic cantatas across the void, beckoning to him to join in. And he did, letting out a low hum that became a white-hot bellow of strength. He knew then that he had a power inside of him that no one could take away, and would be a part of him regardless of how big or strong he might be, or how large an army he commanded.

Arcing through the cosmos, Hyren found himself falling toward a grand spiral galaxy, its arms outstretched to catch him. The harmony reached its crescendo as he plunged into the light of four hundred billion suns, singing all the way.

He opened his eyes with a start, the music merely vague echoes in the back of his mind. All of the pain was gone, and his breaths came easily. Terra and Blynn were still huddled around him, staring at him in shock. The first thing he noticed was how strangely loose his armour felt on him.

Mira withdrew her hands, tucking her wings against her back. "There we are. How do you feel?"

"Thank you, Milady," Hyren said. "Much better." He blinked, his antennae twitching. "I sound different." Although his voice was not as high-pitched as Blynn's, it was definitely no longer deep and throaty.

Blynn placed a paw to her mouth and giggled, and Terra was trying to suppress a grin as well. Even Mira had mirth dancing at the corners of her mouth.

"What?" Hyren sat up, and his helmet fell down over his eyes, several sizes too large. Flustered, he pulled it off and tossed it aside, then paused and looked down at his hands and arms, turning them over as though he couldn't figure out whether or not they were actually his. No longer green and muscle-bound, they were now a shade of cerulean, and slightly pudgy. And they were so small that they had slipped right out of his bracers.

This was something he hadn't seen in long ages, and it was taking a while to fully sink in. "I'm… _little_ again," Hyren said, slipping out of the neck opening between his chestplate and backplate and planting his feet on the floor.

"You're so _cute!_ " Terra squealed, launching herself at him and wrapping him in a hug. "I love unmutated Grundos, they're adorable!"

"D'awww, he's so stubby!" Blynn said with a delighted laugh.

"Stop that!" Hyren fussed, trying to pull away. "I am _not cute_ , missy!" he insisted, scowling and shaking a finger at Terra. He paused and blinked, noticing for the first time that he was looking up at her. Now she had to crouch down to be near eye level with him, when it had been vice versa since they met. "You're taller than me," he said. He looked over at Blynn and withdrew in shock. " _You're_ taller than me!"

The girls laughed again. "Well, now you know how I've felt this whole time!" Blynn said. "I'm gonna miss riding on your head, though. Hmm, I wonder if I can still…"

"Don't you dare," Hyren growled, swatting away her attempts to climb on top of him.

Terra enveloped him in another hug. "I'm so glad you're okay," she said. "I don't know what I would do without you." She looked up at the Space Faerie. "Thank you so much, ma'am. How can we ever repay you?"

Mira patted her shoulder. "No need," the Faerie said. "I believe every act of heroism deserves due reward. And Commander Hyren has been quite heroic."

Hyren squeezed Terra back, still trying to get used to their new size dynamic. "I'll never leave you two," he said. "I promise."

She finally let go of him, taking off her glasses and wiping her eyes on her cloak. "Hyren… did you mean what you said about wanting to be my Neopet?"

The former mutant smiled at her. "Of course." His smile faded. "If you still want me, I mean." He looked down at his hands again. "I know I'm… different than what you're used to. It's going to take a lot of training to get this body up to snuff again."

Terra patted his head affectionately like he used to do to her. "That doesn't matter to me," she said. "I'm just so glad you're okay, and you want to stay with us." She grinned. "You're family now."

Hyren blushed self-consciously. "All right, then," he said. "When we get back to Neopia, let's fill out the adoption forms."

"Awesome!" Blynn whooped, dancing in circles around them. "I've always wanted a brother! Man, this is gonna be the best!"

"Hey, let's have a cheer for Commander Hyren!" Baojia's Scorchio said, thrusting her fist in the air. "Hip, hip, hoorah!" The other rebels in their group followed suit.

The Grundo shook his head, holding out his hands in protest. "Please. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time. And you can stop calling me 'Commander', because I'm not one any more."

"Modesty doesn't become you," Blynn replied with a snicker, she and Terra smothering him in another hug.

Mira watched them for another moment. "Well, I think it's high time we turned this ship around and got you all back to Neopia," she said. "Everyone who's injured, head to the med bays. I'm going to need those with computer skills here on the bridge." She looked down at Hyren. "Seems like your companions could use a little rest and healing."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Hyren said. His expression softened. "But… thank you, Lady Mira."

She nodded. "And thank _you_. You are a great and honourable warrior, Hyren."

"I hope so," he said as he turned to his new family. "All right, let's get you two patched up." Hyren moved to retrieve his sword. He tried not to think about how the blade was now longer than he was tall until he tried to lift it, and with great effort barely managed to pick up the hilt. His antennae fell. "Erm."

Terra frowned, rubbing her chin in thought. "It's okay, Hyren," she finally said. "I'll hold on to it for you until you're strong enough to use it again."

"All right," he said with an embarrassed chuckle, handing her the hilt.

She clipped the belt over her shoulder, slipping on her pack over it and re-adjusting the straps. "Not too bad," she said, shifting her shoulders back and forth to test the weight. Terra paused for a moment, and then undid the belt at her waist. "Here. You can use mine until then." She handed the Grundo her shortsword.

Hyren took it, turning the scabbard over in his hands. Sure it wasn't his claymore, but it was from the same stock. And it was something he could actually lift. He would need to get on a strict training regimen soon, though, if he wanted to be able to wield it. As it was, he realised he was physically weaker than Terra at this point.

"Thank you," he said, fastening the belt around his middle. Even now, the shortsword was a little big for him, but as long as the tip didn't drag on the ground, he'd be satisfied.

"Hyren, you coming?" Baojia's Techo asked as the Scorchio carried their owner away.

"One last thing." Hyren let out a snort as he turned to face the map screen. Reaching over, he picked up his helmet and climbed on top of the console bank. He drew his arm back and hurled the helmet as far as he could, watching with satisfaction as it sailed through the air and dashed to pieces on the floor far below. "That's better." He hopped back down, dusting off his hands.

Terra put an arm around Hyren's shoulder. "Welcome to the family," she said.

"You guys are the best family I could ask for," he replied.

* * *

Hyren realised he was still awake. He grunted and shoved at his pillow, pulling his hand away when he felt wetness. "Well, that's embarrassing," he muttered, turning the pillow over to hide the incriminating evidence of his sensitivity, and quickly dabbing at his eyes with his blanket.

He swung his legs over the side of his bed, staring groggily out the window. Blynn's and Pharazon's voices were gone, and Altador was still swathed in darkness, although the sky possessed a vague greyness that suggested dawn was fast approaching. Kreludor had long since set.

Hyren blinked. There was someone standing on the terrace outside. Launching himself off the bed, the Grundo opened the door to the balcony and walked into the cool night air, which smelled like cypress, wet grass, and the nearby sea.

Terra was leaning against the terrace railing, her arms folded on the marble balustrade as she watched the ships at port and the slow rotation of the lighthouse's mirrored flame. She had grown, Hyren thought as he approached her. She was taller now, wore her hair in a braid instead of simply tied back, and carried herself with more confidence. But she still smiled the same and laughed the same, and listened to his stories with those same wide wondering eyes.

He stood on a ledge halfway up the railing so he could rest his own arms on the top. "Couldn't sleep either, huh," he said.

When Terra had decided to move them from Mystery Island, she'd been able to afford a spacious villa on a hill overlooking the sea. Hyren had to admit to himself that the view was wonderful, as he looked out at the farmlands of Altador sprawled below them. The main city glittered in the distance, further up the coast.

His owner leaned her head into her hand, stray wisps of hair tossed by the breeze. "I've been thinking about when I met you," she said.

"Yeah, me too." He turned to her. "That was the best adventure I've ever been on."

She smiled. "Do you ever miss it? Your old form, I mean."

"Sometimes," he admitted, picking up his hands and flexing them, looking at the stubby fingers he'd grown re-accustomed to. "But I also have too many bad memories associated with it. From before I met you and Blynn, I mean." He draped his arms over the edge. "Mutant Grundos tend to get thought of as meatheads, anyhow. And no one from my past will recognise me in this body if I ever happen to cross paths with them again. Besides, I don't necessarily need to be bigger and stronger than everyone else." He chuckled hoarsely. "I'm not that insecure."

Terra leaned in and gave his shoulders a squeeze. "I like you just the way you are, dude."

"Hey!" Blynn's voice sliced through the night. Hyren watched as the Disco Zafara bounded across the terrace, scrambling onto the railing on the opposite side of Terra from himself. If there was any paint job that fit her better than her original red, Hyren thought, it was definitely Disco.

"It's a little early for the party, isn't it?" Blynn said, bouncing on her toes on the same ledge Hyren was standing on. "Oh—" She did a double-take at Hyren as though she noticed him for the first time. "Surprise!" She flung her arms into the air.

"Thank you," Hyren groaned, slumping over the top of the balustrade, "for ruining whatever semblance of sleep I thought I could get tonight."

"It's what I do best." Blynn grinned toothily.

"We were talking about the time we met," Terra explained to her Zafara, reaching over and running her hand through the tuft of fur on the Neopet's head.

"Oh man, that was great!" Blynn said. "Do you remember those epic battles? And how I used to call you 'chief'?"

Hyren laughed. "What do you mean, 'used to'? You still do!"

"Hyren! So glad you're awake!" The Grundo looked over his shoulder to see ArPharazonTheGolden loping toward him, a pile of books in the Faerie Draik's arms. "I haven't been able to find any information at all on proper Kreluberry cultivation," Pharazon said, "and I was hoping perhaps you could fill the gaps in my knowledge." His books began to tilt dangerously off balance. "You see, I thought you might appreciate a research paper on—"

Hyren reached out and steadied the book pile.

"Oh, thank you!" the Draik said. He set the volumes down and joined his family at their perch. "Are we observing anything in particular? I hear the Protector is in particularly good view this time of year…"

"Nah," Terra said, shaking her head. "Just hanging out."

"Reminiscing," Blynn said.

Pharazon looked back down at her. "Oh? About what?"

"The time she and I met Hyren," Terra said.

"Hm. You know, I don't know if you've ever told me about it," the Draik said, stroking his whiskers.

"It's a good story," their owner said. "You should hear it sometime. If Hyren feels like telling it." She gave the Grundo a knowing smile.

"Maybe some other time." He yawned. "But I'll tell you what I _would_ like to do. We should go to the Virtupets Space Station tomorrow - er, later today – and have lunch at Grundos."

"I'd like that," Terra replied.

"Sounds like the perfect time to get some reading done!" Pharazon said.

"Ohhhh, and I can pull the Lever of Doom!" Blynn said. "We still don't have that avatar and I _want it!_ "

Terra grimaced. "Okay, but I'm putting a five-thousand-NP cap on you this time!"

By now the sky had gotten pinker, and the clouds lightened until finally they started to be touched at their fringes by golden sunlight. The lighthouse dimmed, its flames extinguished until night would fall again.

"You know," Hyren said, "you may be nutty, but you're the best family ever."

Terra laughed, gathering in all three of her Neopets for a group hug. "Happy Grundo Independence Day, Hyren."

"I celebrate my independence every day," he replied, "by being thankful for you guys."


End file.
